Intangible by C.A. Gray
Published By: Wanderlust Publishing
Official Author Websites: Site | Blog | @AuthorCAGray | Facebook | GoodReads
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, E-book
Converse on Twitter via: #PiercingTheVeilSeries
Acquired Book By: I worked with Ms. Bauer (of Royal Social Media) whilst hosting Ms. Krupa (author of the debut novel “Safe & Sound”) and I always left the door open to work with her again as hosting T.S. Krupa was quite lovely and I considered myself blessed to be able to cross paths with both Ms. Bauer and Ms. Krupa at the same time. A writer I am highlighting in November Glynis Astie also shares a connection to Ms. Bauer (as she is her publicist) but this time around, Ms. Bauer approached me to host Ms. Gray and her Young Adult Fantasy series Piercing the Veil. I immediately fell in love with the series premise and the layering effect of the story overall out of the vision Ms. Gray had for her series. Therefore I received a complimentary copy of “Intangible” direct from the author C.A. Gray in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
To be honest, I couldn’t even put into words how excited I was to read this particular book series, as I simply had a hitching of excitement inside me that I might have stumbled across a writer who gave us such a fully realised world to devour that being able to read it for review was not just a blessing but an honour! I soaked inside all the materials the Press Kit afforded me the option of absorbing; which happily the author provides on her website (one of the few recently that have taken me at ‘hallo’ and made me feel grateful some writers go the extra mile!) to the brink that I simply felt this telling sense of ‘yes!’ I need to read this book series! I just had a sense that I would not only become happily entombed inside the series as a whole but that it would be a collection of novels I would not want to put down anytime soon!
The elemental grounding of science intersecting with the legend and lore of King Arthur with a firm rooting of quantum physics as a back-story and underlay of the context overall? Who wouldn’t want to read this book series!? No, seriously! Who?! I responded with such haste, I think Ms. Bauer might have wondered if I had borrowed a TARDIS or a transporter device to query back my intent! Laughs with mirth.
Intangible
Peter Stewart grew up on a unique version of the Arthurian legends taught him by his father, a harebrained quantum physicist who asserts that anything is possible. But Peter disbelieves anything which cannot be scientifically explained, despite a nagging sense that there is more to the world than meets the eye.
Lily Portman is an orphan with a secret: she can see creatures that are invisible to everyone else. These creatures control every human being she has ever met to varying degrees... until she meets Peter and his father.
When a mysterious stranger stages an accident which nearly costs Peter and Lily their lives, suddenly Lily learns that she is not crazy after all, and Peter discovers the truth of his father’s stories… including the existence of Arthur’s ancient nemesis, one who calls himself the Shadow Lord, and a prophecy with implications so profound that it will alter not only the course of their lives, but potentially the fate of the world.
Places to find the book:
Series: Piercing the Veil,
Also in this series: Invincible
on 20th November, 2013
Format: Paperback
Pages: 482
Author Biography:
C.A. Gray is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD), with a primary care practice in Tucson, AZ. She has always been captivated by the power of a good story, fictional or otherwise, which is probably why she loves holistic medicine: a patient’s physical health is invariably intertwined with his or her life story, and she believes that the one can only be understood in context with the other.She still wants to be everything when she grows up. She moonlights as a college chemistry teacher (she has a degree in biochemistry, with minors in Spanish and Creative Writing), does theater when she gets the chance, sings, plays piano, was once a personal trainer and in coffee shop management. She is blessed with exceptionally supportive family and friends, and thanks God for them every single day!
Introducing Peter and Lily:
Characters who transcend their sixth sense sensibility
Peter is living a path outside the realm of his peers because his father took a keen interest in his education at a young age, and endowed him with the ability to learn at a rate that was highly fused to his son’s interests rather than limited to what his level of education would be dictated at a scale of his accent in age. Peter became aware of things that others were not clued into simply because his sense of reality and the sense of his environment as a whole, was altered out of the scope of where his classmates put their perceptional lens. Where they wanted to focus on the routine of the hours within the structure of where they were attending school, Peter was looking at the world from different angles and from a perspective of science bent back into the folds of reality itself. His mind was electrically charged and fundamentally curious about the process of things and the more he was curious about how things worked, the more he wanted to experiment to drive the hypothetical theories out of thought and into a foundation of evidence, for which his mind could lay a baseline of support against what is purported and what is true. The tricky part for Peter is accepting that not everything can be explained by science because he forgot the greatest key we’re all given is our imagination.
Lily finds the patience to live within the spectrum of ordinary hours a bit of a daunting tug of will against what she already knows as truth; her sensibility of awareness is locked within the unseen and yet she is altogether fascinating at how she purports what she understands back into the everyday fold of a regular day. She likes to be a bit organised in her being, even if who she is has never truly been accepted by anyone who has known her as she tends to stand out a bit from her peers. She has a quiet confidence that has not fully blossomed into acceptance but she’s been struggling to overcome not only the loss of her parents but the manner in which she was saved the night they died. Lily believes with an innocent heart and a mind willing to suspend the laws of reported science.
Both Peter and Lily are two extraordinary characters who take you on this journey, giving you the pleasure of tagging along on this adventure that you did not realise you even wanted to become a part of. Their story is on the verge of being known and understood, but along the way, they each start to learn more about each other, their place in the universe, and how all the interlocking pieces of time, reality, and our living hours collide into each other in a mosaic of ordered harmony. They each have a sixth sense sensibility but it is the process of how they develop their intuitive confidence in that vein of sensitivity that leads to an absorbing read!
My Review of Intangible:
I had the pleasure of reading the Prologue for this novel through the author’s Press Kit ahead of reading it inside the novel itself; yet that did not lesson the impact of the words, the images, and the realisation that time although temporal can be tempered and altered simply through a determined spirit to choose one path over another. The Prologue delves into how free will can become a tangible agreement to save lives that otherwise might not have lived by causing certain sub-reactions of an action already in queue to happen. The theory is rooted in quantum physics, and although I have studied theoretical physics off/on throughout my twenties, it has been awhile since I was consumed inside the texts, therefore the exact nature of the theory is elusive to me at the moment. But the incredible conviction of what is plausible to interject into a living reality — now that, is not lost on me! In fact, it is an engaging way to set-up the start of a story on the fringe of being told!
I couldn’t help but smirk into a smile whilst realising the impetus for Peter’s eureka moment was one of my favourite scenes from Macgyver when he saves the day using chocolate! I was keen on the series growing up for the duplicity of gaining a wicked keen series bent on intellectual problem solving, a bit of an adventure, and a cast of quirky characters whose eclectic nature always left me in a fit of smiles and a few giggles. I loved the purism of the series for being true to it’s heart and for giving a lot of inspiration to the kids like me who were growing up with a passion for science in an education system bent against the joy of learning ‘science’. I always credited the series to my yearning desire to study Quantum Physics, as it was the character of Macgyver himself who sparked the interest originally. How clever then, to fast forward and find myself deposited into a young adult series whose opening arc into the personality and mind of Peter is rooted in my past love of Macgyver? Kismet, I say!
I could definitely relate to the awkwardness Peter felt in school, the repetitive structure of the hours within the classrooms and how the days unfortunately blended into each other out of habit. Traditional education is bent against the creative learning experiences that would entice the attention for Peter (or myself) to fully feel engaged in a learning environment that stimulated more than it deflected. He wasn’t the only one who found himself hiding literature of a subject more illuminating then the required reading hidden within his textbooks, and he wasn’t the first to find himself choked on knowing where the class’s reading lesson had prompted his participation to become inclusive rather than excluded. I was a bit surprised on how much I could relate to Peter’s experience, because I have my own memories of similar moments where the tantrum droll of school ached over the well of boredom that had no limit of angst.
When Lily emerged into the foreground on a rather unsuspecting day with the added bonus of a potential transfer to save Peter’s sanity from the bromidic pulse of his schooling years; Peter ended up drawing a bit short on knowing how to access her presence. Lily reminded me a bit of Luna Lovegood (from Harry Potter*), on the level that she is aware of things the other children her age are not quite aware of themselves; without the benefit of being fully in confidence of what sets her apart inasmuch as understanding what it is that she has been gifted with to take-on. She’s a clever character by far, as her roots are in the foster care system yet she has this cleverly writ back-story of intrigue in how she pieces together information and how she interacts with Peter; in a knowing understanding that comes from a depth of years.
I have wanted to find a series or stand-alone novel like Intangible for quite a long while, as I believe it is what would be considered definitely ‘sci-fantasy’ wherein the elements of science fiction & fantasy start to blur and give a new layered impression of the world at large through a prism of extrasensory and extraordinary perceptions of what is seen and understood through eyes that are inhabited by people who find themselves rather ordinary. Yet, ordinary is never quite as easily defined as one might think, and the same can be said for the visionary aspect of Intangible where you have creatures of fantasy bleeding into real-world situations that erupt out of a modern time-line that runs concurrent to a realm outside the folds of our own timescape.
Isdemus is the central figure who holds the most cards in the story, as he is the person who intersects with each of the lives who take on key leading roles within Intangible. Kane on the other hand, is a disillusioned teen who feels a bit indifferent and left behind from the importance of discovering Peter’s place amongst the Watchers. The Watchers in turn, are a collective of guardians who are not only keepers of moments within the timescape of a living soul but they observe everything that is necessary to understand how the past could dip back into the present and off-set the order of peace.
There is a churning war in the backdrop of the story, where the darkness is attempting to forge a path into the light, a timeless battle of good vs evil and the attempt to supersede a measure of power through force. The battle scenes are not as intense as I felt they could have become and I was thankful they were able to be read without a harrowing account of what I would typically find in a historical fiction novel that bends into a war drama. The main battle I observed with a twinge of curiosity occurs a bit early-on when Peter, Cole, Brock, and Lily first learn how their paths are not quite as typical as they felt they were before the accident. (this refers to what is disclosed in the Prologue and then expanded further within Chapter 6) In this setting, there is collision of supernatural creatures bleeding into the modern world and causing chaos not only for the teens themselves but for anyone who might have taken stock of what was happening. There is an underfoot note of tension and the building of a climax that will take each of the young teens to a place they might not even feel courageous enough to explore.
The further I find myself inside this world, the more I want to understand and uncover about what Lily can see and what Peter understands through science. Both have a connective thread of the novel’s tapestry interweaving them both back and forth through the needle of which gives the breadth of the narrative it’s cutting edge on the fringes of science, parapsychology, and metaphysics.
On the writing style of Ms. Gray:
From the opening pages of Intangible, I gathered a sense that Ms. Gray and I grew up in a similar way with a keen awareness for certain things that struck a chord of interest in our minds and hearts. Her curiosity and expression of creativity are an equal match for my own, as she processes certain things in a similar fashion as I do. What was truly compelling is seeing that an opening narrative has an impetus rooted in a tv series a lot of people nowadays like to poke fun at and riddle away with jokes, but to me, the series Macgyver wasn’t something to belittle but to celebrate for the quality of it’s story-lines and the creativity it induced for creative problem solving. Those are the type of life lessons and learning catalysts that are not oft found in today’s world of television dramas and programmes; if at all really. The landscape of tv has altered nearly to an unrecognisable level. I digress. What I am attempting to say, it was refreshing that someone else out there holds the same esteem I have for the series and found a way to creatively fuse a piece of it’s essence into the mind of a teenager in a debut novel that released in 2013 – a full decade at least after the series ended! To me, that is a credit not only to the series cast and crew, but to the fact there are still those of us out there who are a bit picky about our television programmes and miss what used to be the ‘norm’. Now, I’m curious if she watched Quantum Leap?
By the time I read ‘superstrings’ and theoretical research by page 11, I not only sat up straighter but I was trying to sort out how I had the blessing of being able to read such a wickedly delightful novel! I seriously did not remember if I had let on how much I love quantum physics, and surely I don’t remember mentioning (as of yet) my curiosity for superstrings, although I might have mentioned something about it come to think on it, as didn’t I blog about how I started my collection of quantum physics books last year during Sci Fi November?! Hmm,… wells, let’s just say, I plunged so heartedly into the text a hurricane could knock on the window and I would have been completely oblivious!
I had the fortunate grace to have read Uncovering Cobbogoth earlier this year, which foretold of the Elementalists and paved the way for my imagination to jettison itself into a realm where elemental matter can be manipulated and bent towards what a individual mind can develop into their living reality inasmuch as affect aspects of parallel time portals and realms. With my mind alighting inside Cobbogoth ahead of the Piercing the Veil series, I am finding my wings to fly with a freedom of transcendence and a realism of placing myself fully into the shoes of Peter and Lily; in such a way that I might not have had if I hadn’t read the beauty inside Hannah L. Clark’s debut novel! (also the first of a series!) I hadn’t thought about it previously, but Cobbogoth is sci-fantasy as much as Intangible! Methinks this speaks of an essay for Sci Fi November, dear hearts!
The world-building style of C.A. Gray is an intricate thread that she has knitted into such a breathable space of tangible imaginative thought, you simply want to spend a heap of time within the space the Piercing Veil series occupies!
*reference to Luna Lovegood is based solely on my viewings of the Harry Potter films in lieu of reading the Harry Potter novels, which of course will become quite a geekily bookish event on my blog at such a time I can find enough hours to devout to reading the series start to finish without a break!
IBP Book Trailer for Book 1 of Piercing the Veil: Intangible
via International Book Promotion
Piercing the Veil Showcase
on Jorie Loves A Story:
| 30th October, 2014 |
Review: Intangible Book 1 of Piercing the Veil
The following events will be during Sci Fi November:
| 3rd November, 2014 |
A *LIVE!* Author Q&A with C.A. Gray 6-8pm MTZ (Mountain) | 9-11pm NYC (EST) Questions can post ahead starting @ midnight straight into the chat itself; author will be responding live
| 10th November, 2014 |
Review: Invincible Book 2 of Piercing the Veil
| 17th November, 2014 |
Review: Impossible Book 3 of Piercing the Veil
| 24th November, 2014 |
Piercing the Veil Series Showcase Special
This book review is courtesy of:
Be sure to stay attune to the Bookish Events I’m hosting by visiting my Calendar of Events! To see which book will become my next reads selection of choice, visit my AUTUMN TBR List on Riffle!
Please take note of the Related Articles as they were hand selected due to being of cross-reference importance in relation to this book review. This applies to each post on my blog where you see Related Articles underneath the post. Be sure to take a moment to acknowledge the further readings which are offered.
Reader Interactive Question:
What pulls you into a Young Adult Fantasy novel? What are you hoping to find each time you set your mind & heart to enter into a whole new world of possibilities grounded in mythology, lore, or a world built so real it reflects the author’s vision they wanted you to find whilst you were reading their story? What is a definitive sci-fantasy novel that evokes a sense of grounding between the three key elements of this series: science, parapsychology, and metaphysics?
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Intangible”, Author Biography, Book Synopsis and all promotional badges attributed to the Piercing the Veil series and/or Royal Social Media were provided by Royal Social Media and/or the author C.A. Gray and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. The book trailer for “Intangible” had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
Related Articles:
Bibliography of King Arthur – (en.wikipedia.org)
Comments on Twitter on behalf of “Intangible”:
{ favourite & Re-tweet if inspired to share }
.@AuthorCAGray Soaking into Book1 of #PiercingTheVeilSeries ‘Intangible’ where we are 1st introduced to Peter & Lily #YAFantasy #KingArthur
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 30, 2014
.@AuthorCAGray Ooh my dear sweet ghouls – this #YA #Fantasy author knows how to write a #book that gives #physics a wicked edge of heart :)
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 30, 2014
Bridging the gap between #science & #fantasy whilst providing a riveting #unputdownable read, @AuthorCAGray redefines #scifantasy INTANGIBLE
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 30, 2014
@TuiSnider @OfTheWilds #StoryDam It has all the elements inside I love being a science geek such as I am; but this breadth of world-building
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 31, 2014
@OfTheWilds #StoryDam Not since I read #UncoveringCobbogoth have I read such a riveting & captivating #fantasy as I am now w/ Intangible 1/2
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 31, 2014
@OfTheWilds #StoryDam In turn, leads me to happily find numerous things to blog about on it’s behalf but do not want to spoil it either 2/2
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 31, 2014
Sounds like you found a good book, Jorie! :D #StoryDam @JLovesAStory @OfTheWilds
— Tui Snider (@TuiSnider) October 31, 2014
Whilst listening to samples of Hearts of Space (@heartsofspace) Radio, I am composing my final thoughts on the #PiercingTheVeilSeries #YA
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) October 31, 2014
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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