GUEST POST: Beginning to Remember by Anderson O’Donnell

Beginning to Remember by

Anderson O’Donnell

There’s no question that, both as individuals and as a
collective society, our attention spans have narrowed. We bounce from one shiny
new diversion to another, forgetting much of our past in the process. New
buildings are thrown up on top of old ones; we can’t even spare the time or the
expense to give our history a proper burial.

In my new biopunk thriller, Kingdom, I tried to address this cultural amnesia by creating a
city that is devouring itself: Tiber City, the dystopian capital of my
fictional universe, is in a constant state of “progress” that allows its
denizens no time for reflection or contemplation. New businesses rise and fall
almost overnight; entire alleyways vanish—or perhaps they are forgotten.
No one can remember, but, without question, they’re gone.

At some point, this process becomes almost autonomous; there
is a sense that Tiber City is somehow not only sentient, but, driven by a dark
energy, is intent on perpetuating our societal ADD.

I’ve been looking forward to my tour stop at Beauty in Ruins
because I knew BiR’s audience would be sympathetic to the idea that landscapes,
that monuments and ruins, can project a certain power, an energy that captures
the imagination. Tiber City is that kind of place. But this is also a city
without a soul that seems intent on exerting its will over its people. There
are parts of the city, however, that still hold mystery and wonder; places that
were constructed with care and vision and lie in patient repose. In fact, the
fate of Kingdom’s protagonist rests of his ability to navigate these ruins, and
understand their secrets.

Below you’ll find a short excerpt from Kingdom, a paragraph that describes Tiber City and its descent into
cultural amnesia.

Reaching the exit,
Campbell pulled open the steel door that marked the camp’s main entrance. Like much of Tiber City, the old
warehouse—the basement levels of which held Camp Ramoth—had been hastily
constructed to satisfy an immediate need and then forgotten, money, politics,
and power always pushing forward, need begetting need begetting ever more need.
Consequently, rather than taking the time and the money to tear buildings down,
these structures were buried alive, fresh concrete and steel poured over the
still-viable structures. When the money dried up, these new buildings—little
more than heaps of cheap material slapped together atop uneven foundations by
strangers, by men who were not from these neighborhoods, by men who couldn’t
care less—began to crumble. And when they did, no one gave a shit because the
goal had never been sustainability; turn a profit and move on was the
fundamental philosophy. Structure began cannibalizing structure, and as the
foundations of the newest buildings collapsed, older, forgotten buildings were
unearthed. As a result, the Jungle’s geography was forever changing as the
slums rose up to reclaim the land, prefab material no match for the infinite
patience of time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. And a huge
thanks to Beauty in Ruins for allowing me to hijack valuable blog space.

Cheers,

Anderson

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The Kingdom

by Anderson O’Donnell



In a secret laboratory hidden under the desert, a covert bioengineering project--codename "Exodus"--has discovered the gene responsible for the human soul.



Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation's collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.



In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead--an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.



And in the streets below, a young man races through an ultra modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution....closing in on the terrible truth behind Exodus--and one man's dark vision for the future of mankind.



Welcome to Tiber City.

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Paperback Review: Riptide by Preston and Child

I can't remember the last time a book frustrated me so often, and so deeply, yet still managed to be so much fun. If only Preston and Child could have devoted the same amount of attention to character building as to treasure hiding, this could have been a stellar read. What frustrates me is that I know they can do it. Agent Pendergast is one of the greatest characters being written today, and they usually manage to surround him with a solid cast of strong, intelligent, well-rounded characters. Here, however, they seem to have gotten lazy, trusting in the technical and adventurous thrills to deflect attention away from their weakest point - the human element upon which, unfortunately, the entire climax is so precariously perched.



What initially drew me to Riptide was it's fictionalization of the Oak Island treasure hunt. I mean, really, what Canadian kid hasn't dreamed of being the first to discover just what is buried on the small, Nova Scotia island? All the historical elements are here, from the succession of failed digs, to the flagstones and timbers, to the uncontrollable flooding of the pit. In moving the island to the coast of Maine, Preston and Child also up the stakes, incorporating a series of gruesome deaths into their story, and inventing Edward Ockham to take the place of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd as the pirates behind the treasure.



It's here that they truly shine, not only adding some interesting narrative depth to the history of the pit, but also devising a really clever explanation for it's construction. Incorporating the natural flaws, caverns, and sinkholes of the real Oak Island into their pirate traps, they also weave in elements of historical architecture to hold it all together. The investigation and analysis of the island is sound, and even if you know it can't be that easy, you really do expect the treasure hunters to succeed with each new solution. Preston and Child also know just how long to prolong the suspense, making each successive failure work to draw the reader in, without ever pushing him away in exasperation.



For some reason, though, Preston and Child can't just be content with a treasure of buried gold and jewels. Instead, they have to invent a mystical artifact in St. Michael's Sword, and make that the focus of the treasure hunt. The whole sword idea just feels odd and out-of-place, right from the start, and it's wielded so awkwardly, you have to wonder if either of them really knew what to do with it. Ultimately, it provides a far too easy, far too convenient explanation for the curse, and one that is mishandled badly. I can't count how many times I wanted to reach into the book and slap a character for not seeing the obvious. Really, with all these doctors, scientists, and ex-military personnel involved, how did nobody else figure it out? Had just one of them turned on the damned piece of equipment Preston and Child went to such lengths to draw our attention to early on, the mystery would have been solved.



That brings us back to the characters. Their stupidity notwithstanding, they are a pretty solid bunch of characters for about two-thirds of the book . . . and then the laziness sets in. For no other reason than it makes for an action-packed climax later on, Captain Neidelman is suddenly rewritten to be this crazy, paranoid, homicidal maniac who will stop at nothing to attain St. Michael's Sword. Not only that, but his second-in-command is inexplicably transformed into a mindless brute of a henchman. Toss in an awkwardly placed preacher who exists primarily to bash you over the head with the "greed is bad" message, and you've got a climax that has deus ex machina written all over it.



Had they left St. Michael's Sword out of the equation, and been content to let the pirates (and their treasure pit architect) be the villains of the story, this could have been a fantastic read. All of the elements were there for it to succeed, if only Preston and Child could have resisted the temptation to tack on such a heavy-handed bit of mystical nonsense and moralistic messaging. Despite all that, it still managed to be a fun read, and one that I'd happily recommend as a mindless beach read - with an emphasis on mindless.

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TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.

Question of the Week: If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?



I'd love to forget The Last Battle. I was reasonably fond of the Chronicles of Naria, right up through The Silver Chair. That WTF ending, though, so thick with Lewis' religious propaganda that you could cut it with a sword . . . it's the only time I've ever thrown a book in the trash.



On the positive side, I'd be curious to forget Pet Semetary and give it a fresh read, not from the perspective of a young boy graduating from YA fiction, but as a father with a child not much younger than Gage. I suspect it's impact would be far different now than it was then.



Parajunkee also hosts a Social Hop for Facebook and Twitter, which I regularly take part in. So, if you're one of those people who aren't on Blogger, or who just don't like Google Friend Connect, it's a great way to keep in touch and follow one another.

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TGIF is another blog hop designed to provide much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by GReads, it's an interesting way to recap the week, pose a question, and find some exposure with a different audience.



Question of the Week: Have you ever contacted an author you admired? How did that experience go? If not, which author would you love to have a chat with?



I've had some interesting email conversations with authors I've certainly come to admire, but I can't say I've ever had the chance to connect with any of my old, long-time favourites. If I had the chance to sit down and chat, I'd be looking to invite the likes of authors who are just as interesting for their past or side careers as for their writing - Clive Barker, Douglas Preston, and Clive Cussler.

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eBook Review: Waiting For Daybreak by Amanda McNeil

"What is normal?"



It's a good question, and one you'll never look at quite the same way again after reading Amanda McNeil's Waiting For Daybreak. Taking her inspiration from  I Am Legend, Amanda offers up a first-person exploration of the last human being on Earth scenario . . . but then ups the stakes with a narrator who was already asking the question "What is normal?" long before the world devolved into a mass of angry, violent, brain-eating zombies.



Frieda is a young woman with a borderline personality disorder, one that causes dissociative fugues where she becomes angry and violent, and leaves her with no memory of her actions later. As if that weren't enough, she also suffers from anxiety and depression, often resorting to self-harm in order to alleviate the psychological pain. Despite that, Amanda portrays her more as quirky than crazy, establishing her as a very likeable, extremely sympathetic character. It quickly becomes clear that her personality (and the isolation it imposes upon her) is largely responsible for her being spared from the outbreak.



The first half of the novel is like a diary of her survival. We learn about how she's fortified her apartment, how she's cultivated balcony and rooftop gardens, and how she deals with the Afflicted (i.e. zombies) who get too close. We also get to explore a bit of her back story through her memories and musings on the last few days of her life before the outbreak. Where the story takes an interesting twist is when her cat, her sole source of companionship, becomes ill. Forced to embark on a dangerous scavenging mission to the veterinary hospital across town, Frieda leads us on a frantic chase through the ruins of the city, confronted more than once by the hungry, only to discover there's at least one other human being left alive.



The second half the novel then becomes something of a post-apocalyptic love story. It's an interesting and awkward romance, one that you want to succeed for Freida's sake, but which you just know in your gut can't end well. Convenience and desperation are never a solid foundation for a relationship, and when both lovers suffer from their own issues with depression . . . well, the potential for disaster looms large. This is where Amanda really gets to the heart of the novel, using Freida and Mike to question just what is normal - pre and post apocalypse - and whether it's better (or, perhaps, easier) to just be like everybody else.



I won't spoil the ending, but it took a turn that quite surprised me, leading to an action-filled climax that worked exceptionally well. While I found it a little light on detail on some areas, and felt as if there were some secrets about Mike that were hinted at but never fully revealed, the writing is solid, the dialogue creatively engaging (even with Freida's silent cat), and the novelty of the personality issue alone definitely makes this worth a read.

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Waiting On Wednesday: Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:



Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher



Tony Prosdocimi lives in the bustling Metropolis of San Ventura – a city gripped in fear, a city under siege by the hooded supervillain, The Cowl.



When Tony develops super-powers and acts to take down The Cowl, however, he finds that the local superhero team Seven Wonders aren’t as grateful as he assumed they’d be. (August 28, 2012)



I'm always up for a good superhero book, and with advance praise from novelists and comic book writers alike, this looks like a winner. I've already got the ARC in hand, so here's hoping it's a good one!

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FREE - Cinema of Shadows and The Exodus Gate

Not 1 but 2 - yes, count 'em, 2 - free Kindle releases this week from Seventh Star Press!

First of all we've got Cinema of Shadows by Michael West, a book I reviewed here:



Welcome to the Woodfield Movie Palace. The night the Titanic sank, it opened for business...and its builder died in his chair. In the 1950s, there was a fire; a balcony full of people burned to death. And years later, when it became the scene of one of Harmony, Indiana's most notorious murders, it closed for good. Abandoned, sealed, locked up tight...until now. Tonight, Professor Geoffrey Burke and his Parapsychology students have come to the Woodfield in search of evidence, hoping to find irrefutable proof of a haunting. Instead, they will discover that, in this theater, the terrors are not confined to the screen. 

But that, as they says, is not all! We've also got The Exodus Gate by Stephen Zimmer:



The Rising Dawn Saga begins with a prologue that calls to mind the imagery of Milton's Paradise Lost, and then introduces Benedict Darwin, the host of a popular late night radio show dealing with the paranormal and the things of myth, legend, and conspiracy. Benedict comes into possession of a virtual reality simulator that turns out to be something far greater, and far more dangerous than he ever expected.



Supernatural powers from the Abyss are aiding humans at the heights of political and economic power in a centuries-old movement called The Convergence. It is focused on bringing the world under one political and economic authority, one that erases borders between nations and governs all populations across the world.



A tale of courage, hope, and adventure, with fantastical realms and exotic characters, The Exodus Gate is a unique story that blends fantasy, science fiction, the paranormal, horror, and military thriller elements into a powerful voice within the realms of urban fantasy. 





Please share this link and spread the word!

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GUEST POST: The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra by Herbert Smith

The name of the oldest civilization known to the modern world is Kmet, sometimes spelled Kemet (or other variations), although the original name in the original language would be transliterated as Kmt. Many eastern languages still are devoid of vowels, although some use a symbol to indicate where a vowel should be; the same symbol for all vowel sounds. That is the reason for different English spellings for Arabic words. For example, the word for a Nile sailing vessel that has come down to us from prehistory can be spelled as felucca – the spelling I use - or fulucca, or even felooka. There are any number of ways a word can be spelled in translation. It shows us that some of the sounds of languages are almost impossible to reproduce in English.



One of the most interesting words I know, the name of the nation of Qatar, is often pronounced as something close to “gutter” in English, but I lived in Qatar for a year, and the people there don’t say it that way at all. KAT-tar is the local rendition, although I probably missed some of the very subtle sounds within the word. That is often the case when attempting to pronounce words from other languages, our predilection toward English sounds limits our ability to hear things as they are actually, when they are subtly spoken.



There are some words that seem to have an ancient commonality. Once, when a neighbor who had come directly from the Assyrians of Eastern Europe, a refugee, was visiting at our house, she brought her three year old grandson who had not yet learned English. They spoke their native language at home, which they insisted was the original language of the human race. We had a large, gentle old cat, who strolled through the room, and the child was overjoyed to see it. “Gato!” he shouted gleefully. “Gato” is the word for cat in Spanish as well as Assyrian. Often the words for ‘mother’ and ‘father’ (or their more familiar forms of ‘mama’ and ‘daddy’ or ‘papa’) are similar in languages from all parts of the world, and other common use nouns reflect the same similarity. For some reason there are far fewer similar verbs than nouns. That could well reflect the idea that ‘personal’ names were in general use and of greater importance to ancient people than were the names of activities they carried out day by day, from which verb forms sprang. 



It was with the understanding that language could not express very much of what existed in a culture out of the ancient past, and that almost everything has been lost of that culture, that I started working on the first chapter of the novel. I wanted to construct a possible, realistic setting, and a living picture of the people of Nomo and their migration across the Sahara, by no means an easy feat, and set them up beside what was, for them, an impossible dream; an immense, never ending supply of water. As was common among ancient people, they had some idea that a god had created and controlled all things; an intrinsic knowledge of a power beyond their understanding, and they set out to honor that god with the best things they could offer. Their god was the sun, a logical conclusion for an ancient tribe, and they carried the worship of their god with them. He eventually became the great god, Amun-Ra, the sun god and creator god of the Pharaohs who existed in grandeur and nearly unlimited power in the minds of the ancients for three millennia.

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About the Book:





The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra

by Herbert Smith



What is the true age of the Great Sphinx of Giza? There is a lot of discussion and much controversy among Egyptologists concerning its origin, and no one has yet been able to find a date or inscription that will settle the dispute. The evidence, according to a large group of scientists, is the human visage of the statue. They believe it can be dated to the time of the Pharaoh Khafra (Khefren) who ruled about 4,500 years ago, by the style of the headdress the Sphinx wears. But the fact that the head is so much smaller in proportion to the body of the beast is, for many, a clear signal that the Sphinx was changed at that time, and the resulting theory is that the original appearance of the great stone lion was quite different. No one can determine the precise time the original statue was constructed. Some serious scientists have estimated that it may be 10,000 years or older.


The tiny colony of Nomo, far to the west of the Nile Valley, set out nearly 8,000 years ago to find a new home along the Great Water that some members of the tribe recalled from their young years. The Water lay many day’s distance across the treacherous sands of the Bab – the name they gave the Sahara Desert – and their exploration to find the water was a monumental task. But the explorers were successful and the tribe picked up all they could carry and resettled themselves beside the Great River, founding a village that grew into a town, and eventually into a nation, joining with many other tribes to form ancient Kmet, now called Egypt. They thrived there for millennia, growing and changing into a complex and sophisticated society ruled by Pharaohs, and became the builders of the mighty pyramids and temples that lie along the Nile, and creators of the greatest sculpture the world has ever seen: the mighty Sphinx of Giza.

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About the Author:

Herbert L. Smith has lived and taught in many different countries of the world, from Africa to South America, and has written about some of his posts in three books published since 2008: Cairo: The Mother Of The World, Crossing Borders, and his most recent, The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra. All these books are based in Egypt, where he lived in the 1990’s, and he has followed the evolution of Egypt continually since that time.

The first two books are travel memoirs, and The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra is a novel set in ancient as well as modern Egypt. It is a time-travel kind of experience, placing readers in pre-history as well as Cairo in 2012, which he knows well.



Smith has been a teacher since 1968, working in the U.S. as well as abroad. His subject as well as his interest is English Language, and he has taught primarily in Colleges and Universitiespreparing international students for academic work in English.



Other disciplines that attract his attention are music and history. He is a pianist, organist, and choirmaster, and a reader of history. He now lives in Eugene, Oregon where his writing and musiccontinue. A biographical novel that will eventually follow (in about two years) is titled David, The King.

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Check out the rest of Herbert's tour schedule over at Pump Up Your Book . . . and stop back later in the month for my review of The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra.

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