Russian Orthodox Literary Concern Rekindled: Nicholar Kotar Pens Russian Fantasy -- Review of His "Raven Son"

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Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

March 12, 2014

Russian Orthodox Literary Concern Rekindled:

Nicholar Kotar Pens Russian Fantasy

A Review of

Nicholas Kotar "Raven Son" (Conquering Time Pubs., 2014)

$16.95 282 pp ISBN: 978-0-61596-02702

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

The examples set by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are producing concern for literature among Protestants and Roman Catholics, but there has been no such example for Russian Orthodox believers since Fyodor Dostoevsky. Nicholas Kotar belongs to a Russian Orthodox community based in California which intends to do something about this, and his book under review here is a means toward that end. One of the attached photos shows him speaking on the subject to the "Prav Mir" group, and the other one shows the cover of his book, which is a fantasy based on traditional Russian legends and fairy tales.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes fantasy, and I especially recommend it to those who would like to read a fantasy placed in a traditional Russian milieu and incorporating Russian fantasy elements. The story is like Dostoevsky in grabbing and holding your interest but its characters, plot, and settings are very different -- it occurs in days of yore, not in the late 19th century! This story and these characters and these fantasy beings are quite memorable and attract your concern and are full of puzzles and surprises and mysteries, which call to mind the famous saying of Churchill about the mystery that is Russia!

For further information you can visit these sites: http://www.raven-son.org/,

http://www.conquering-time.org/, and www.pravmir.com/conquering-time-an-orthodox-cultural-response-to-the-world

Biology Is Not Borology -- Review of Bonnie Doran's "Dark Biology"

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Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

 

March 10, 2014

 

Biology Is Not Borology

 

A Review of

 

Bonnie Doran Dark Biology (Harbourlight Books, 2014)

$15.99 333 pp ISBN: 978-1-61116-277-6

 

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

 

One of the benefits of establishing a habitat in outer space is the opportunity to conduct experiments in a zero-gravity environment. In the book under review the hero, Dr. “Hildi” Hilebrandt, a CDC vaccinologist, just happens to be in such a habitat, the International Space Station, when a cure is needed quickly to prevent an influenza pandemic on Earth, which was started by the villain of the tale, her brother Chet, from the vial of a super-deadly virus stolen from a CDC lab. His nefarious deed is the “Dark” referred to in Dark Biology, an excellent title and quite apropos since Chet was acting under the influence of the Prince of Darkness!

 

This Prince has also, through the production of boring biology textbooks, succeeded in promoting the widespread notion that biology is boring, for which reason many of the students in my high school class called it “borology”. This fallacious notion has been amply refuted not only by the numerous accounts of interesting phenomena in biological studies, but also in interesting science fiction stories such as the one reviewed here. This story is also interesting in its portrayal of the relationships among the characters, especially in how they are affected by their relationship with God. And there are some interesting episodes in the trip to and from the ISS. And the story moves along at a good clip, so that the book is, to use my term, "notwannaputdownable"! Bonnie Doran is a welcome addition to the ranks of science fiction authors!

 

Information is available on her website http://www.bonniedoranbooks.com/.

The Second "Faeraven" Tale: Strange and Thought-Provoking -- Review of WayFarer by Janalyn Voigt

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

March 7, 2014

The Second Faeraven Tale: Strange and Thought-Provoking

A Review of

Janalyn Voigt WayFarer (Harbourlight Books, 2013)

$15.99 261 pp ISBN: 978-1-61116-292-9

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz SPOILER ALERT: THIS REVIEW MAY "GIVE AWAY" THE STORY

The first book in Janalyn Voigt's Tales of Faeraven trilogy ends with Princess Shae's successful summoning of the world's saviour, which is followed, in the second book (under review here) by his strange reception from her brother Elcon, the High Prince of Faeraven. But, on a deeper level, it is actually not so strange after all, as is his strange romantic life, when we learn from the Author's Note (in the back of the book) that her story is an allegory!

Things get stranger still and even more thought-provoking because I like her tale and her characters, so much so that I find it difficult to harmonize with Tolkien's derogation of allegory. AND the characters, especially Elcon and Aewen and Arillia are so REAL and vibrant and moving that it is really really hard to think of them as allegories! I highly recommend reading this story both because it is a good tale and because it is thought-provoking.

Information is available on the author's website http://janalynvoigt.com/

Jordyn Redwood Debuts With Excellent Medical Suspense Trilogy -- A Review of her "Bloodline" Trilogy

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 7, 2014

Jordyn Redwood Debuts With Excellent Medical Suspense Trilogy

A Review of

Jordyn Redwood Bloodline Trilogy published by Kregel in 2012 & 2013, each (paperback) volume priced at $14.99:

1. Proof 307 pp ISBN: 978-0-8254-4238-4

2. Poison 310 pp ISBN: 978-0-8254-4212-4

3. Peril 269 pp ISBN: 978-0-8254-4213-1

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

Let me begin by bestowing my thanks upon Martha Ramirez for informing me of this great treasure. (C. S. Lewis once said that the greatest help a teacher can be is to recommend which books to read.) Jordyn Redwood's trilogy is excellent medical suspense, especially for those who like it blended with criminal suspense, particularly the subspecies of criminal suspense which focuses on the criminal mentality, similar to that of the Criminal Minds television series, which, by the way, celebrated its 200th show this week, so that this is a great time to write this review!!

I am also excited about Jordyn Redwood's books because they deal with interesting medical phenomena, which are useful in refuting the popular notion that science is boring -- I remember in high school most students thought that biology was borology! Well, they would not think so if they read these books, especially about how DNA identification can be thwarted by strange embryological phenomena, and how recipients of heart transplants can sometimes pick up memories had by the donor, which is one the weirdest things I have ever heard of! These biological facts are crucial for the stories in the first and third books of the trilogy as the discussion of interesting stuff about spider venom is for the second one. Redwood is not only a good writer but also a very knowledgeable one, who has had two decades of ER & ICU Nursing experience. She writes what she knows!!

I also wish to pay tribute to the beautiful cover photos -- these are among the best I have ever seen -- and of the beautiful websites of the author.

About the only criticism I have is that sometimes, especially in the second book, the story becomes too complex, which is one problem a sophisticated thinker like Redwood sometimes has.

I am now in the midst of writing about the flow of interesting things into my life. Jordyn Redwood's trilogy is the most recent of these interesting things!

Information is available on these websites: http://jredwood.blogspot.com/ and http://www.jordynredwood.com/. Her email address is jredwood1@gmail.com.

Who Are The Real Humans Here?? -- Review of Rachel Cohn's Beta

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com

December 2, 2013

Who Are The Real Humans Here ??

A Review of

Rachel Cohn Beta (Hyperion, 2012)

331 pp ISBN: 9781423157199

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

In the dystopian future society in this novel scientists produce (what are alleged to be) human clones to be used as slaves. Although, with the little information provided, the correct scientific term for them is uncertain, the story makes it clear that they definitely are human -- in fact, more human than the people in this society. As these "clones" overcome their slave conditioning and attain self-consciousness and realize that they are persons, they mount an insurrection, which begins near the close of this book, which is the first of a planned quadrilogy. The second book, Emergent, is scheduled for realease on September 2014.

The focus of the story is the clone Elysia, who is the "beta" referred to in the title. She is an experimental model -- the first teenage clone ever produced. Because the story is told from her point of view, the book is catalogued as "young adult", which today's librarians use to indicate teenager. Even though she is a new clone and just released into this society, it does not take her very long to attain self-consciousness and to be ready to participate in the Insurrection, which she does at the very end of the book. To see what will happen in this battle, we will need to read the next book, which I intend to do as soon as it is published.

Information on the author is available at www.rachelcohn.com

Santuary: A Must Read -- Review of Sanctuary by Pauline Creeden

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

October 23, 2013

Sanctuary: A "Must" Read!!

A Review of

Pauline Creeden Sanctuary (Alt Wit Press, 2013)

260 pp $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-1491072066

[Advance Reader Copy (ARC)]

Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz

The world of Christian fiction today is quite exciting not only in the ever growing numbers of new authors and stories, but also in the discussions and debates about what Christian fiction means or even whether it should be called Christian fiction: many christians now say that they do not write Christian fiction but that they are christians who write fiction. The publisher of Pauline Creeden's book, the Alt Wit Press, states that it publishes two kinds of fiction -- those which are blatantly evangelistic (altar call books!) and those which are not but which are written from a christian world view. Pauline Creeden's book fits into the latter category, and she wants readers to know this, for which reason the info on her book includes a review by a non-christian who states that he enjoyed the book and did not feel like he was being proselytized. So, when we see the title Sanctuary, we should keep that in mind, lest we regard the book as an evangelistic tract.

The term Sanctuary can be misleading in another way, and this the reader is not made aware of ahead of time, and, in fact, both the material promoting the book as well as the beautiful cover can convey the impression that all Jenny is trying to do is to escape to a safe place. This she does do and this is her main motivation AT FIRST, but afterward she becomes a tough girl and goes on the offensive against the enemy. I am using the term "enemy" advisedly because it is really not clear exactly what they are.

This leads on into a discussion of an important feature of this story, namely that, with a few exceptions, the point of view is that of ordinary people trying to cope in a practical way with the crisis confronting them without knowing just what the ETs are and exactly what effect they are having on the humans they attack. Therefore it is premature to speak of "zombies" or other terms. And it is misleading to use the term "Left Behind" because no Rapture has happened in the story -- Jenny and her pastor and other Christians are on Earth -- they have not been raptured. But there is a similarity in the story with the Left Behind books because some elements of the story are similar to "Tribulation" events prophesied in the Book of Revelation, and such a passage is quoted as a preface to the story. And the story, like those in the LB books, is full of excitement, interesting characters, plot twists, and allusions to or direct references to God and faith. Therefore, I agree with the consensus of reviewers that this is a very good story, but I do not agree with the simplistic assumptions noted.

I learned of Pauline Creeden through the Lost Genre Guild (LGG) email discussion group of Christian writers of speculative fiction, which includes SF, fantasy, horror and supernatural stories. I highly recommend LGG as a way of keeping up with new Christian fiction in these genres and with opportunities to participate in interesting discussions with other writers about all sorts of interesting matters. For info on Pauline Creeden you can visit these websites

http://www.altwitpress.com/ http://paulinecreeden.com/

A Story About "The Gifted" By a Highly Gifted Author -- Review of The Foxes of Caminus by Laura Burroughs

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com

 October 18, 2013

 

A Story About "The Gifted" By a Highly Gifted Author

 

Laura Burroughs The Foxes of Caminus (Burroughs Books, Inc., 2013)

                            ISBN: 978-0-615-86181-4

 

Reviewed by: Forrest Schultz

 

     The publishing of books by Coweta County authors has been booming for some time now. And the writing of some of these books has taken a lot of work and a lot of time. A case in point is the most recently published one -- The Foxes of Caminus -- the debut novel of Laura Thomas, who lives near Moreland and who writes under her maiden name, Laura Burroughs. It soon becomes clear to the reader that the writing of this tale involved an enormous amount of research in fields as diverse as physics and history and religion (to name a few) -- as well as a great amount of work in world-building and character development. (And some of these characters are "real characters"!). The Foxes in the title refers (mainly) to the teenage twins Harlie and Anya Fox and (secondarily) to their parents [usually through flashbacks]. Caminus is both the name of a secret island and its Academy, which provides an unusual education, which is super-modern in some ways and super-ancient in others. Both the Foxes and Caminus are quite interesting in ways too numerous to discuss in a review.

 

     This is a story about "The Gifted", i.e. children and young people with super-special abilities. The recent sad experience with the TV shows Heroes and Alphas and Touch shows that it takes a specially gifted author to be able to write good stories about The Gifted, the chief lesson being that the focus should be on the gifts and the gifted themselves and not on attempts by criminals to kidnap them, exploit them, etc. Burroughs has learned this lesson well. There is criminal activity involved but the main story line is the understanding of and education in and development of and proper use of the gifts themselves, and of the personal relationships among the Gifted and their teachers. The lesson here is that only a highly gifted author can write a good story about The Gifted!!

     The genre of Burrough's story is partially fantasy -- the locale is a secret island and there are mystic texts and objects in the story -- but it is mainly science fiction: it involves super-advanced computers and other technological devices and exotic physics (zero point fields, nanotechnology, quantum entanglement, etc.).

 

     This is the first book in a series. The Kindle Edition is already out and the print book will be published soon. (For my review I used the printed manuscript, which contains 264 pages.)

 

     Information is available at http://www.burroughsbooks.com/, which is one of the best written, organized, and most beautiful websites I have ever seen.