Guest Post by Benjamin Kane Ethridge, author of Black & Orange

In anticipation of my review tomorrow, I wanted to post this wonderful guest post by author Benjamin Kane Ethridge ---

 

DOORS TOO SILVER

Something sent the pod sideways. Her heart pounded like a feral creature. I might come out of this supply pod alive-- some people might still live. She could imagine her father answering with his trademark scepticism, "Yeah, but you might be searching for doors too silver."

Bile gurgled in her throat. Her companion Daryl hadn't smelled all that great when they’d first escaped into the pod, but his oniony body odor was sorely missed now. The pod smelled of his death.

An alert orb flashed as the vents activated and her eyes filled with laces of hot new color in the darkness. The track outside sounded different, smoother. Stabilizing braces caught the pod. She gasped.

The hatch opened and inventory lasers suddenly hit her face. With a series of confused jerking movements, the beams tried to find something to count. She blinked past the sweeping red light at the new world outside her self-imposed coffin.

                The conveyance channel had surfaced in a large medical tent sheltered in leather and bones. Overturned chemical drums and gurneys filled the tent among stacks of wooden supply crates. A large threshold framed the scorched earth, which led to an iodine-streaked horizon.

                A breeze shook the vaulted ceiling and the bones flexed under its influence. Skulls unified support beams of femurs wrapped in tight black straps.

                The wind roared. Something large just outside the tent crept with black and gray fire. She watched it burn for a while, a tangle of treading panthers with smoldering underbellies.

She wished the explosion had taken her with it.

Too easy though. Doors too silver.

                Wide black rain drops patted the leather canvas overhead. She peered outside. A gloomy red-rust colored freighter sat atop the hill. The rain danced on pink corpses and washed away filthy carbon remainders; the death outside was spotless clean, unerring, substance without purpose.

                She limped up the hill, soaked and aching, and continued across the ramp to the freighter. Climbing the ladder was difficult, but she kept on.

Several opened corpses lay around the bridge. Through the cockpit shield she could see dead bodies rushing away in the rain like streaking pencil lead.

                That could have been me.

With a chill, she checked the navigation system. A destination had already been plotted. She touched the engage service button. The hatch downstairs shook as it closed. The freighter lifted, but she felt hollow. She, too, was on autopilot.

                Soon the charcoal landscape was flowing quickly beneath her. She wasn’t hungry. She wasn’t thirsty. She wasn’t in need of anything. She would just continue on.

Hours passed. Just before dusk, something on the horizon caught a tenuous ray of sunshine through the rain and filled the air with intense light. She held up a hand to her eyes, momentarily blinded.

It was not long before she took another look at it.

Benjamin Kane Ethridge is the Bram Stoker Award winning author of the novel Black & Orange. His official web presence is www.bkethridge.com and you can Facebook him here, www.facebook.com/benjamin.kane.ethridge and Tweet him here, www.twitter.com/#!/bkethridge

 
so --- curious about the book?    Here's the link for it on GoodReads, and stay tuned for my review post tomorrow!

Merry Sisters of Fate --- Watcher Prompt Contest and poem

You might not be familiar with The Merry Sisters of Fate, but then again.... maybe you do know them (just not on this site).

The Merry Sisters of Fate are three authors:  Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovanoff, and Tessa Gratton.   And, they have this marvelous site where they share their writing and all sorts of fantastic things.    In honor of their new blog home, they have a small contest running  --- to write something original based on this prompt, and then share it.

I did this once before, and it felt really good to compose something.   In fact, I might try to do this more often, just to stretch my writing a bit.....       I thought I'd try again, so here's my contribution:

Moving past you

“The Turret Stairs” by Frederic Burton

    in this passage,

time slows

           as  I steal as much

of an embrace as this

      narrow stair allows.

But for a promise made when I was a girl,

I would be free to be yours, not

              trapped,

smothered in the bell jar of my marriage.

All the gifts in the kingdom cannot

     undo the ache in my heart

for you.

Even as I am fixed firmly in my station,

I dream

            of climbing from the high tower,

            down to your embrace and the promises

of distant shores.

BBAW --- a bit of appreciation for everyone involved

Considering my blog turns two in September, I thought it was appropriate to put up a short post about Book Blogger Appreciation Week, which is an annual celebration of book blogs.    I read a lot of blogs, and I do appreciate all the hard work that people put into their blogs, so I plan to do some appreciating during that week.   I also plan on appreciating all the people who are nice enough to read my blog, so I have giveaways planned in September, as well.   More on that soon......

If you want to know more about BBAW, here's what it's all about, straight from the main site:  Book Blogger Appreciation Week is an annual celebration of book blogs. It’s a jam packed week dedicated to acknowledging the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to preserving our culture of literacy. This year’s celebration takes place September 12-September 16th. The week includes guest posts, daily activities, giveaways, games, special podcasts, and an awards program exclusively devoted to book blogs.

Pretty cool, eh?  I think so, so I plan on registering and voting for some blogs!     If you'd like to see the various categories, they're all here.

Wordless Wednesday - mosaic in chapel on San Michele, Venice

Dael and the Painted People by Allan Richard Shickman

Summary (courtesy of GoodReads):   A prehistoric adventure, this is the third of the Zan-Gah young adult books. When Dael, guilty and tormented, came to live with the tribe of the painted people, he longed for peace and restoration; but without knowing it, he made a powerful enemy. Luckily, Dael had friends-including a troop of crows-and his own mystical powers. The disturbed and violent hero learns from the Children of the Earth, and from his submissive wife, a new way of life that is peaceful and generous. Dael and the Painted People is a story of conflict, healing, hate, and love by the winner of the Eric Hoffer Award, a finalist for the ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Award, and the Mom's Choice Gold Seal for Excellence in a family-friendly book series.

And here's what I thought:  This is the third in the Zan-Gah series, and it smoothly continues where the last story leaves off.   What I like about these books is that it is obvious that the author works in authentic details of what prehistoric life was (most likely) like.  He doesn't shy away from some gritty details just because the books are aimed at younger readers, and I think that's good.    The stories tend to have even pacing, interesting characters, and detailed descriptions.  

In this story, we follow Dael and his female companion, Sparrow as they set out looking for the Red People,  and then find them.   Dael isn't a perfectly likeable character, but he's interesting, and the more you read about him, the more you begin to understand him.   Sparrow is a good counterpoint to Dael - her personality is completely different, and how she relates to people is a good contrast to Dael, as well.   

This book, like the two before it, was a quick read, and an engaging story. 

 
First sentences: To dream of a head dripping with blood and look into its glazed and lifeless eyes might, even in sleep, leave the dreamer changed and chastened.

Thoughts on the cover:  I like how vibrant this cover is, with the red hand feeding the raven.  It reflects part of the story, and is eye-catching.

Wordless Wednesday - Springfield, IL

Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman

Summary (courtesy of Smashwords):   “One, two! One, two! and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack!” Blood pounded in Tjaden’s ears as he breathed in the acrid odor, and his sword didn’t falter. Not after the convoluted road that had led him to set out alone to find and slay the manxome Jabberwocky. But the secrets he’d learned about the Jabberwocky’s sorrowful past made it a sour victory.

How different would the situation be if the girl he loved wasn’t at risk? Why didn’t anyone tell him the dark secrets surrounding the Tumtum tree?

Jabberwocky, a short novel by Daniel Coleman, is the untold story behind Lewis Carroll’s beloved poem. Meet the characters and creatures that inhabit the world long before Alice ever fell down the rabbit’s hole.

While staying true to every detail of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, Jabberwocky provides twists that will keep you turning pages. You might know how it ends, but you won’t believe how it happens.

And here's what I thought:  This is Daniel Coleman's first story set in Wonderland.   You might have already read my review of Hatter, which I read first.   I enjoyed this story just as much as Hatter, although it was completely different.

Compared to Hatter, where there are two character paralleling each other throughout the story, this book focuses mainly on one character, Tjaden.  He's a talented and brave young man, determined to prove that he can be taken into the Elite Guard.  It almost seems like his dreams won't be realized this year when, already injured by a fight with  a bandersnatch, he loses a critical fighting match.  However, the Elite seek him out, taking Tjaden and his best friend, Ollie, to train towards becoming members of the guard.


Woven throughout this story is Tjaden's love for Elora, a young woman from his town.  His encounter with the bandersnatch actually came about because of her, and she accompanies him and Ollie to Palassiren (a larger city), so that she can recount his bravery in the fight with the bandersnatch.   All seems like it is going well, and Tjaden is settling into his new life as a trainee ---- until he receives news that Elora has been taken by a jabberworky, a fearsome beast.   Determined to save her, he asks one of the Elite, Captain Darieus, to train him to slay the jabberwocky.    Darieus agrees, providing him with training and knowledge, but it seems like he might have some kind of hidden motive in sending Tjaden to rescue Elora.

And, of course, Darieus does --- and all becomes revealed throughout the story.   There's adventure, intrigue, and even some love (and a bit of heartbreak).   There's a smooth, even flow to this story, and plenty of Wonderland in it (we meet more creatures, like borogroves, for example).   Something I found interesting in this book, and in Hatter, was that the description of the fighting, whether it is with staff or sword, seem very accurate.   I don't know about the author's own experiences, but from the way he writes, it seems he is familiar with both.  I've encountered this before in writing (Tim Powers' The Drawing of the Dark is one example -- Tim Powers has fencing experience, which really comes through in his writing).   I liked that there were these realistic elements in the story, in addition to the more fantastical elements --- it made for a good balance.    

Even though I read the books in reverse order, it didn't matter too much --- other than the fact that we meet Chism, one of the main characters from Hatter, in this story.   Tjaden encounters him when he meets the other recruits.    I thought both of these stories were interesting, and really good reads --- and I would welcome another story set in Wonderland.  

 
First sentences: Misha and Teia stood on the outskirts of the wabe, peering into the crowd of townspeople gathered to witness their Sixteenery. Each held a new red ribbon with gold tips, to be tied in their hair until their wedding days.

Thoughts on the cover:   I really love the typeface, and the cover art is subtle, but perfectly suits the story.