Gill Jepson has released three out of the four books in his Out of Time series and I eagerly await the conclusion to this adventurous time traveling tale. Without going into detail, this series centers on the Furness peninsula in Britain and is wonderfully rich in details about the history of the area. Gill Jepson's family is from the area and he grew up on its stories. He uses the people and places from the area and his own family history to create a backdrop of colorful characters that help the heroes on their quest.
With regards to the writing style, there are a few issues with scene transitions that seem a little abrupt. They do not impact the story line, but it can be disruptive for readers. The plot twists and quest elements involve the reader in the chase. The series is well suited to middle school and high school readers of both genders.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
Book Review...
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers mixes romance and danger with a girl's story of coming of age and understanding how the world is not as black and white as we might want it to be. The writing is wonderfully rich in detail. LaFevers transports the reader back in time to an era in French history when the political landscape looked quite different from what we know today. This book is as full of spies and assassins as any James Bond type story and will appeal to readers who enjoy cloak and dagger novels. As for the romance aspect, there are several female characters to keep an eye on, but it is the main character that the reader will be most interested in.
This book is best suited for young adult women, but it is most certainly not limited to that audience. The historical background is well done and will hopefully inspire more readers to chose historical fiction in the future.
This book is best suited for young adult women, but it is most certainly not limited to that audience. The historical background is well done and will hopefully inspire more readers to chose historical fiction in the future.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Geography
One of the facets of a novel is the location. When you are setting out to describe a historical place make sure you do your research and know how the geography has changed in the intervening years. For many places this means man made changes in rivers, mountains, draining swamps, creating islands or any other method used to make more habitable land areas. In some cases in the Middle East and Africa the opposite is true. The desert as we know it was not nearly so widespread in Ancient times. Most of the Middle East was in fact quite fertile and green. Mountain ranges are in a constant state of change as well. Mt Everest keeps growing to greater, more challenging heights. The landscapes of today are not the same as those of our predecessors.
Cities and towns can change just as rapidly as any landscape. Buildings rise and fall, streets are laid over old fields and ruins are all that remain of once prosperous neighborhoods. In many areas this happens in even as short a span as a single decade.
It is the job of an historian to preserve as much of the past as possible for future generations, but it is writers who are able to really bring alive those long lost places and paint a picture with words. A good writer can resurrect a lost civilization out of the ruins of the modern landscape with the right research. Until next time, keep reading and writing.
Cities and towns can change just as rapidly as any landscape. Buildings rise and fall, streets are laid over old fields and ruins are all that remain of once prosperous neighborhoods. In many areas this happens in even as short a span as a single decade.
It is the job of an historian to preserve as much of the past as possible for future generations, but it is writers who are able to really bring alive those long lost places and paint a picture with words. A good writer can resurrect a lost civilization out of the ruins of the modern landscape with the right research. Until next time, keep reading and writing.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The League of the Delphi Book Review
The League of the Delphi by Chris Everheart is a thrilling mystery that keeps you guessing right to the end. Follow Zachary White as he delves into family secrets that lead him into the distant past to uncover a dangerous present. Chris Everhart's writing balances the thrill of the chase with the mystery of an intricate puzzle. The characters are wonderfully developed and the town comes alive on the page. Rich with a variety of culture, Everheart brings a wider world to small American town. Excellent read for young adults. This book has it all, action, romance, history and mystery.
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15766944-the-league-of-delphi" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The League of Delphi (The Delphi Trilogy #1)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343076856m/15766944.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15766944-the-league-of-delphi">The League of Delphi</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2854680.Chris_Everheart">Chris Everheart</a><br/>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/37591976-heather-adams">View all my reviews</a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15766944-the-league-of-delphi" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The League of Delphi (The Delphi Trilogy #1)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343076856m/15766944.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15766944-the-league-of-delphi">The League of Delphi</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2854680.Chris_Everheart">Chris Everheart</a><br/>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/37591976-heather-adams">View all my reviews</a>
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Hello readers. I hope everyone has had a great holiday season. I have been busy with parties and family, but now I am ready to get back to business.
My first book review of the year is on Ronit Lowenstein-Malz's novel Escape in Time, translated from Hebrew into English, and illustrated by Laurie McGraw. Set to publish April 2015, this young adult novel is based on real life events surrounding a Jewish-Hungarian family and their struggles during World War II.
This wonderful narrative revolves around two main characters, Miri and Nessya. Nessya is a young Jewish girl living in modern day Tel Aviv with an understanding of the Holocaust, but no real connection to it. Miri is her grandmother who lived through the events of World War II as a young girl herself, but has kept this from Nessya. The story unfolds in a vivid and memorable way as Miri's recollections of the war and its horrors are brought to life.
Although marketed to young adults, I believe it would be well suited to all ages as young as 12 and up. Young readers today will have no trouble understanding the events and details of Jewish-Hungarian life as Miri explains them to Nessya. Unlike many Holocaust novels, this one gives just enough detail to show what it was like to live through a war without becoming too morbidly gory and giving nightmares making it better suited as a first introduction to the events for young readers. It also shows the fighting spirit of Miri's family and what can be accomplished even in the darkest of times.
Historical fiction such as this enriches our understanding of the past and helps to give clarity to the future. Encouraging younger generations to better understanding the past is how we can try to ensure that such events to not happen again.
My first book review of the year is on Ronit Lowenstein-Malz's novel Escape in Time, translated from Hebrew into English, and illustrated by Laurie McGraw. Set to publish April 2015, this young adult novel is based on real life events surrounding a Jewish-Hungarian family and their struggles during World War II.
This wonderful narrative revolves around two main characters, Miri and Nessya. Nessya is a young Jewish girl living in modern day Tel Aviv with an understanding of the Holocaust, but no real connection to it. Miri is her grandmother who lived through the events of World War II as a young girl herself, but has kept this from Nessya. The story unfolds in a vivid and memorable way as Miri's recollections of the war and its horrors are brought to life.
Although marketed to young adults, I believe it would be well suited to all ages as young as 12 and up. Young readers today will have no trouble understanding the events and details of Jewish-Hungarian life as Miri explains them to Nessya. Unlike many Holocaust novels, this one gives just enough detail to show what it was like to live through a war without becoming too morbidly gory and giving nightmares making it better suited as a first introduction to the events for young readers. It also shows the fighting spirit of Miri's family and what can be accomplished even in the darkest of times.
Historical fiction such as this enriches our understanding of the past and helps to give clarity to the future. Encouraging younger generations to better understanding the past is how we can try to ensure that such events to not happen again.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Writer's Block
I have been away from this blog for some time now and have decided to address the issue that all writers will face at least once in their careers. What do you do when you get stuck?
The general advice is to just write whatever comes to mind no matter how ridiculous until you get unstuck. In reality most of us sit there staring at a blank page until some distraction comes along to provide an excuse to procrastinate writing. Once that starts it becomes easier and easier to do anything but write.
One alternative to random writing is finding inspiration in the words of others. All of us have been influenced by what we have read whether we know it or not. Sometimes seeing how someone else resolved a situation or put a new twist on an old tale will provide insight into your own writing dilemma.
Over the next several posts I will expand into other historical time periods and include reviews of Historical Fiction novels both old and new. I look forward to getting reader feedback on these as well. Happy writing!
The general advice is to just write whatever comes to mind no matter how ridiculous until you get unstuck. In reality most of us sit there staring at a blank page until some distraction comes along to provide an excuse to procrastinate writing. Once that starts it becomes easier and easier to do anything but write.
One alternative to random writing is finding inspiration in the words of others. All of us have been influenced by what we have read whether we know it or not. Sometimes seeing how someone else resolved a situation or put a new twist on an old tale will provide insight into your own writing dilemma.
Over the next several posts I will expand into other historical time periods and include reviews of Historical Fiction novels both old and new. I look forward to getting reader feedback on these as well. Happy writing!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Historical Fiction
Writers of historical fiction use past events and people to create a narrative story that is entertaining for the general public. Some use this as a biographical tool to show readers what life was like for a famous historical figure. One example is the Boleyn series by Philippa Gregory. Others use events as a backdrop, but do not include historical characters except as occasional cameos. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series is a good example of this. A third kind of historical fiction is the 'what if' type. This category takes real events and people and says what if this happened instead? This is often called historical fantasy. In this realm lives time travel, magic, and alternate history. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series falls into this last category as well for the time travel element. Harry Turtledove is known for his alternate histories which ask questions of a military nature. Would the civil war have been different if fought with WWII weapons? The obvious answer is yes, but how would it have been different?
When writing a historical fiction novel the first question a writer must ask is when will it take place? Next is where. Will the characters be involved in an event? Does this involve traveling? How much do you know about this time period and its culture? How much research might be involved? How true to history do you wish to stay, or would you rather take artistic license in order for history to fit your story? Answering these questions will help you as you get started, but you may need to revisit a few as you write. Everyone has a different writing process. For many the story is created start to finish in an outline with characters and events in their basic form and then details fleshed out in the first draft. For others the creative process is wholly organic and the story seems to create itself.
The consistent piece of advice that every writer has every given any aspiring writer is this: Write, often. It doesn't matter what you write, just do it. To that end I have taken their advice. When I get stuck on one story I switch to another, or to this blog. Just so long as I write something everyday. Keep reading, keep writing, keep growing, keep learning.
When writing a historical fiction novel the first question a writer must ask is when will it take place? Next is where. Will the characters be involved in an event? Does this involve traveling? How much do you know about this time period and its culture? How much research might be involved? How true to history do you wish to stay, or would you rather take artistic license in order for history to fit your story? Answering these questions will help you as you get started, but you may need to revisit a few as you write. Everyone has a different writing process. For many the story is created start to finish in an outline with characters and events in their basic form and then details fleshed out in the first draft. For others the creative process is wholly organic and the story seems to create itself.
The consistent piece of advice that every writer has every given any aspiring writer is this: Write, often. It doesn't matter what you write, just do it. To that end I have taken their advice. When I get stuck on one story I switch to another, or to this blog. Just so long as I write something everyday. Keep reading, keep writing, keep growing, keep learning.
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