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Year of the Child
Posted by Literary Titan
In R. L. Dean’s Year Of The Child, the reader is taken through a series of events entangling characters in crime, politics of control, and rogue groups.
The chapters in the book are short which makes it easy to follow the plot. The first character we’re introduced to is Misaki. The Apex plant and Harmony dome had been ruined. The blame had initially been placed on Free Mars Now terrorists. Ludwick Chaserman was an ex-employee of Apex Mining and a hard critic of plant leadership. He had received money from Shanghai Independent Bank and Trust after the dome had exploded and UN Special Security Team had enough reasons to implicate him. Ludwick Chaserman is an intriguing and well developed character, there is something about him that made him likable.
The hunt for Ludwick is akin to following a detective series. Using believable processes and deductive logic to hunt down criminals. Everything is subtle and I became so engrossed in the story. Feeling culpable for sabotage after the destruction, Misaki decided to go to her haven, the Sadie. Tetsuya was one character I cherished in the book. The man had a reputation that preceded him. A former detective, Tetsuya was tasked with investigating piracy. Tetsuya was knowledgeable in many things. His investigating techniques were not unique but enthralling to follow nonetheless. I like how Tetsuya’s mind worked.
R. L. Dean has arranged the content in the book distinctively, in that every chapter focuses on a particular character. This format was fun to read as going through every chapter gave me a new and unique experience.
Year of The Child is a great piece of science fiction with interweaving themes of drama, violence, organized crime, detective stories, power, and aggression. I felt that the characters in this book were exceptional and brought life into this otherwise straightforward space opera. The story is consistently interesting, while the suspense is muted at times, I felt that the plot twists more than made up for it. R. L. Dean’s book shows how complex people can be. Exploring humanity and the desire for control is not black and white.
Pages: 340 | ASIN: B07XF7Z2ZY
Posted in Book Reviews, Four Stars
Tags: author, book, book review, bookblogger, ebook, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, harmony, kindle, kobo, literature, nook, novel, read, reader, reading, rl dean, science fiction, space opera, story, writer, writing, year of the child
Spirituality 103 The Forgiveness Code: Finding The Light In Our Shadow
Posted by Literary Titan
Ivan Figueroa-Otero’s Spirituality 103: The Forgiveness Code is the third installment in a succession of self-help books that focus on spirituality, mindfulness, and self-understanding. This installment more specifically deals with the power of forgiveness. The reader is encouraged to connect with his or her inner ‘Warrior of Light’, meaning that in order to confront the negativity around us we must look into ourselves and examine the negativity that we harbor internally. Figueroa-Otero employs the use of Buddhism and Chinese-Tao concepts to help the reader get on a path towards connecting with him or herself and to understand that forgiveness is necessary for progress and growth.
One thing that I found helpful about the novel was the glossary that was included in the beginning. It gave the author’s expanded definition for various specific terms that was used throughout the book, such as ‘Warrior of Light’, ‘Warrior of Shadows’, and so on. Figueroa-Otero also provides homework questions at the end of chapters to help the reader review and fully understand the concepts discussed in each chapter. I found this helpful as it allowed me to exercise my understanding what I just read.
Another helpful aspect to the novel is that the reader does not necessarily need to read the first two installments in order to comprehend and fully practice the message and lesson that the author communicates. Figueroa-Otero does an excellent job in the introduction at summarizing what the readers have learned from the first two books and how that might be applied to this book.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I’m all about a good self-help book, and it’s refreshing to see one written on the power of forgiveness. However, the prose was so dense with poetic and figurative language that I would have to reread some sections to understand what was said. Along with amble use of metaphors I felt that I sometimes had to apply my own meaning rather than being told what things meant.
This would be a great book to read for anyone who finds themselves bitter or harboring hateful feelings towards others. I love the lesson presented within the book and you can really feel the authors passion for the subject matter. And in the end, with a self help, what you’re really looking for is an author that cares. And I think I found that in this book.
Pages: 154 | ASIN: B0764DYJHS
Posted in Book Reviews, Four Stars
Tags: alibris, author, author life, authors, barnes and noble, book, book club, book geek, book lover, bookaholic, bookbaby, bookblogger, bookbub, bookhaul, bookhub, bookish, bookreads, books of instagram, booksbooksbooks, bookshelf, bookstagram, bookstagramer, bookwitty, bookworks, bookworm, buddhism, chinese, ebook, forgiveness, goodreads, harmony, hate, healing, health, ilovebooks, indiebooks, Ivan Figueroa-Otero, kindle, kobo, literature, love, mindfulness, negativity, nook, novel, passion, peace, publishing, read, reader, reading, religion, resentment, self help, shelfari, smashwords, spiritual, spirituality, Spirituality 103 The Forgiveness Code: Finding The Light In Our Shadow, story, tao, understanding, warrior, writer, writer community, writing, Yasmin Rodriguez
Violent Confrontations
Posted by Literary Titan
Redemption: The Advent is a fantastic sci-fi-thriller set during present day where a police investigator becomes host to an ethereal being from a parallel universe. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling novel?
As a civil engineer with a master’s degree from a Canadian university, my career required me to travel and live in a number of countries among people with diverse cultural backgrounds. These differences often resulted in violent confrontations with grave injustices inflicted by opposing ideologies. At the same time our world is currently inflicted with two devastating plagues, the proliferation of drugs and religious radicalization.
The book tackles these topics by describing two contemporary adventures, interlaced with superhuman moral guidance. In so doing I wanted to demonstrate the vanity of materialism and the virtue of harmony and peace which can only be achieved through empathy and understanding.
The Valdorians have watched Earth and deemed humanity too far gone to achieve spiritual evolution. What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating the Valdorian race?
Although I adhere to no specific philosophy my deepest convictions indicate that there must me a superior intelligence underlying the whole of creation. The nature of this intelligence is unknowable. What is evident however is that harmony and understanding will bring peace to the world. This is the only credible behavior that will result in unity with each other and ultimately our creator.
James Baxter becomes host to a Valdor which leads to some very interesting conversations and confrontations. What was your approach to writing the interactions between characters?
In a world where science and technology are advancing at breakneck speeds and greed appears to be the main driving force in human affairs, the spiritual meaning of the old systems that govern us is becoming increasingly blurred.
By imagining a race of beings that are immortal, it necessitates a different viewpoint to morality and the reason for existence. By the interactions outlined in the book some of our religious myths are intermingled and questioned. The interaction provides food for thought that will resonate with anyone who has ever pondered on the mysteries of creation.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
“Redemption the Journey” – Sequel to “Redemption the Advent” – It will elaborate on the trials and tribulations resulting from the Valdor intervention, as they attempt to create a Utopia on Earth.
I have already planned the basic outline of the novel but will only complete the narrative once the first novel proves popular.
Author Links: Website | GoodReads
Two beings. One Body. And a critical mission to save the world. The Valdors, ethereal beings from a parallel dimension, have guarded the development of consciousness since the beginning of time. Humanity’s greed and fanaticism have derailed progression towards spiritual evolution, and the Valdor Council has earmarked Sol III (Earth) for annihilation. In one final effort, Balthazar is sent to Earth to redeem Humanity. When Bal connects with the mind of James Baxter, a seasoned police investigator, he must convince him to assist with his mission. Bal and Baxter have to share the same body. Using human effort and Valdor mental power, they combat a drug lord who has hijacked a mind-controlling microchip, and an Islamic extremist who plans to rule the world. Embarking on an adventure of intrigue and ruthlessness, Bal and Baxter’s journey exposes the weaknesses and triumphs of the human character as they struggle for Humanity’s redemption.
Posted in Interviews
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