Category: Time Travel

+Reading Challenge+ Sci-Fi Experience 2014

Posted Saturday, 4 January, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , 0 Comments

2014 SciFi Experience
(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)
Finding a renewed joy in reading science fiction stories during SFN, and having my hours to enjoy the stories grow a bit limited as November shifted into December, I was most delighted to find: the Sci-Fi Experience! (Review Site of the Experience!) As 2014 continues to move forward, science fiction & fantasy will both play a larger role on my blog as I am a member of The Classics Club, whereupon one of my focuses is specifically on: classic science fiction, classic fantasy, and classic/modern Magical Realism. (I tend to include the latter under this umbrella due to the elements which attach the sub-genre to the creativity of the former!)

When I first stumbled across this particular reading challenge, I was elated on the one level I wasn’t able to complete all of my SFN posts as scheduled originally! I wanted to take December & January during the Experience to stitch everything back together, and complete the journey I had taken during Rinn Reads most excellent month of sci-fi loveliness! This is prior to realising that my December 2013 would be blissfully full of holiday events, concerts, and the mirth of joy which surrounds the Christmas Season! My local community opened up their doors to such a beautiful celebration of joy this year, I was overtook by the festivities to where I lost hours to enjoy all the lovely reading adventures I had scheduled to partake in at the very same time! Therefore, January is my month of redemption, to where I can go back through my SFN Posts, tweak them, post them, and be confident in knowing that even if your original plans get a bit delayed from their original intentions, its okay to complete our goals at a later date which works better for us! Not only as book bloggers, but as readers! Our reading lives should never be stressful nor taxing, and in this way, I am always thankful the bookish community online is such a warm, engaging and adaptable group of people!

I wanted to select a few titles to read during the Experience, specific to this Challenge, which is why whilst engaged in a lovely conversation with an author (Kate Elliott) I have been keen to read since I was seventeen (i.e. when I was first introduced to “King’s Dragon”, part of the “Crown of Stars” series), via our serendipitously lovely Twitter chats, I was encouraged to seek out the following authors & their stories:

  • Gate of Ivrel (Book One: Morgaine series) by CJ Cherryh {ILL REQ}
  • Jaran (Book One: Jaran series) by Kate Elliott {intrigued to read for eons!} {ILL REQ} UPDATE: The book came in by ILL late January
  • Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey {keep reading about it; the suspense of what’s inside is over!} {ILL REQ} UPDATE: The book came in by ILL late January
  • The Boy With the Cuckoo-Heart by Mathias Malzieu {I found this via Roof Beam Reader originally, grabbed it off a library display (featuring clocks & clockpunk titles) w/o realising my library had it in their catalogue!}
  • *NOTE: ILL REQ = inter-library loan request

You see, I took option #2 because originally she had made this suggestion:

For the curiously inclined, the entire conversation can be viewed!

At the very same time, if you are curious to know which

Sci-Fi November | Hosted by Rinn Readsposts I will be working throughout January, they are as follows:

A Sherlockian-Steampunker Janeite: Tells All

TBA (Sci-Fi Blogs) & TBA (Sci-Fi Authors I Have Read)

TBA (Sci-Fi Yet to Read)

New2Me: SciFi Serials & SciFi Zines

Sci-Film Films [film reviews]

Doctor Who Reviews & Conversations

SFN TBR Jar

& as many book reviews focused on
Steampunk, Dystopian, & Time Travel
as time will allow!

With a bit of an added twist and bonus, I am going to be

featuring Seventh Star Press titles and authors the week of the 26th!

Consider it Seventh Star Press Week here on Jorie Loves A Story!

Crown of Vengeance (Fires in Eden {World of: Ave}, Book 1) by Stephen Zimmer,

The Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy (Anthology), [27 January]

and The Brotherhood of Dwarves (Book 1) by D.A. Adams!

Author Guest Post: On writing Dwarves by D.A. Adams [26 January]

{SOURCES: The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience was granted permission to use the artwork by Stephen Martiniere in their official badge for all participants to show their solidarity during the event! Sci-Fi November Badge and Event Badge were provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month-long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! Tweets between Kate Elliott and Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story were made possible by embed codes via Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Saturday, 4 January, 2014 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Doctor Who, Dystopian, Fantasy Fiction, High Fantasy, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steampunk, TARDIS, The Sci-Fi Experience, Time Travel, TV Serials & Motion Pictures

*SFN* | Feature: Diary of a Not-So-New Whovian

Posted Tuesday, 19 November, 2013 by readerlymusings 2 Comments

Shabby Blogs

Introduction

Hello, everyone! This is Christine from Readerly Musings, and I thought today I’d do a little something to celebrate Sci-Fi November by guest-posting here at Jorie Loves a Story.

When Jorie first told me about SFN, I was both excited and dismayed. Excited because an abundance of Sci-Fi posts in the book blogosphere for the month of November is an awesome idea! Alas, the dismay quickly set in because I, as someone who is participating in NaNoWriMo for the 8th year in a row, knew I would not be able to take part. Until today, that is!

Entering the TARDIS…

On November 2, Jorie posted about the beginning of her journey to becoming a Whovian and her excitement reminded me of how I too came to love Doctor Who – about six years ago.

I had heard rumblings about it for months online. Friends were talking about it on LiveJournal, posting fan fics, making icons, and (much like the Doctor himself) trying to welcome Martha while getting over the loss of Rose.

It was June 2007 and, unbeknownst to me, the third series of ‘New’ Doctor Who was airing. Personally, I was much more interested in preparing for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and all that it would mean. One such way was in joining an online Harry Potter RolePlay in the vein of TV show Law & Order. One of my fellow RP-ers was a Whovian and using David Tennant to portray an original character. Upon finding out I had never watched Doctor Who and absolutely no inkling as to who David Tennant was, she quickly sent me a link to where I could watch episodes of Doctor Who online (it has since been taken down) and instructed me to watch the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride.

I know some Whovians might be shocked to discover that the first episode of Doctor Who I ever watched was The Runaway Bride. Especially because back then Donna Noble’s character was not synonymous with the word ‘awesome’ and there were Whovians who thought the character of Donna too loud-mouthed and brash, and would soon be debating the announcement that Catherine Tate would be reprising her role in series four.

I enjoyed The Runaway Bride immensely, and I fell in serious love with David Tennant’s portrayal of the Tenth Doctor, and the show itself. I mean, I’m posting this, aren’t I? *laughs* Alas, with everything going on in my life that year, I did not get a chance to watch another episode until months later in, coincidentally, November.

A Journey Through Time – And Space!

Drawn by Christine D. in 2008.
Artwork Credit: Tenth Doctor, drawn by Christine D. in 2008.

Once November came around, and I realized how long it had been since I had watched The Runaway Bride (with the last line haunting me – and still doing so to this day – due to the great deal of emotion tied to it), I made an agreement with another friend to use it as one of my word count incentives during my 2nd attempt at NaNoWriMo. December came soon after and I was already making icons from Doctor Who screen captures and owned the first series on DVD. A few days before Christmas, I wrote my first fan fiction (though it was very short, less than 500 words), and on Christmas morning my parents gave me the second series on DVD. I had quickly become rather… well, obsessed. And invested. I had not yet heard the term ‘Whovian,’ and I’ve no idea when I finally did, but looking back it had taken me about two weeks from the time I watched the Ninth Doctor’s first episode until I became one – though David Tennant was, and still is, my Doctor.

Alas, there was one problem with The Runaway Bride being my very first episode. I sort of knew what was happening in the series two finale (seriously, do you remember that line I mentioned in the last paragraph?!?!?) and, as such, I dreaded watching it unfold on-screen. And, because of how much I dreaded it, I waited almost three weeks before I finally watched Army of Ghosts and Doomsday. However, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, if you will, because once I watched them, I changed my entire LiveJournal layout so it was dedicated to the Doctor and Rose and that beautifully heart-wrenching “wall” scene.

From there, I came across a little problem. A dreaded ‘what to watch?’ dilemma because I could not decide if I dared watch series 3 or check in with Torchwood’s first series to see what Captain Jack Harkness was up to. Ultimately, I decided on Torchwood. Why? Two words. John. Barrowman. That and the fact he returned to Doctor Who at the end of series three in Utopia, but mostly because I wanted to see more John Barrowman. And Captain Jack. Although I am not a big fan of violence and gore, I did somehow manage to get through the first series – do not ask me how, but my answer will probably be ‘the promise of more Captain Jack.’

Once I finished Torchwood’s first series, it was onto series three. Which I will unashamedly admit I finished in two days. TWO. DAYS! I finished it just in time too, because series four started airing four days later so I could watch along with everyone else! And, in between episodes, I could watch Torchwood’s second series, and the first series of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

I cannot even begin to explain how much I loved Doctor Who’s fourth series, or how much it broke my heart. Actually, in a way, I can….

Full-Time Whovian

Drawn by Christine D. in 2011
Artwork Credit: Ninth Doctor, drawn by Christine D. in 2011

The fourth series was over, there was no new Doctor Who until Christmas and I was distraught. The kind of distraught that only happens after you spend a little over half a year getting caught up with a show that you have quickly fallen in love with only to find you have to wait almost as long for just one more episode. ONE. So I did something only dedicated fans would do – I delved further into the world of Doctor Who.

I was not yet interested in attempting to watch Classic Who because the sheer amount of episodes, not to mention the amount of missing episodes, was incredibly daunting), so instead I dived into the fandom. I made icons, I wrote another short fan fiction, I read fan fiction, I looked at fan art, I drew fan art (two of which I’ve included in this post)…. And then I did something crazy. I’m not even kidding, ‘crazy’ is the only word I can use to describe it. Don’t believe me? I made a website. A completely fan-run website. Dedicated not only to Doctor Who, but also Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. All pretty much on my own, to boot.

A Side Note: Before I go on, I have to say that while this Whoniverse website of mine does still exist and you may be able to guess what it is, I have had to largely abandon it. This is due not to my no longer being a fan (because oh my god, am I still a dedicated Whovian!), but the fact that I spent so much time on it, keeping it updated on every aspect of the Whoniverse, and had to do so all on my own even when others promised to help, that it became more of a job than the hobby that it once was, and every time I try to update it I feel this overwhelming pressure to ‘get it right’ and it just shouldn’t be that way. Neither can I update it to say that it is closed or on an indefinite hiatus, because it literally pains me to do so. This website was “my baby” for so long that I cannot imagine giving it up and so I leave it up as it is, with the promise of updates to come, in the hopes that one day I can sit down in front of my computer and just fall back right into it, experiencing once again the joy that updating it (or simply finding something to update it with) brought me.

Now that series four was over, and I was caught up with the Doctor Who spinoffs until The Sarah Jane Adventures’ second series started airing in the fall, I continued my exploration of the fandom, and experienced a great deal of dread and sadness during 2009 due to David Tennant’s announcement he was leaving the role and the lack of episodes until 2010. During that time, there was a glimmer of hope. It wasn’t Matt Smith, whom I fell in love with from the first time I watched his interview following the announcement he was taking over the role from David Tennant, but the fact that I was able to watch the majority of the second series with my best friend in celebration of my 21st birthday (May 29, 2009) and see her enjoy most of those episodes for the very first time. Though I can’t say I introduced her to the show, as she had previously seen a few episodes, I can say that I played a major role in her own journey to becoming a Whovian. I have tried to do the same with my father, but he only saw David Tennant’s farewell story a month or so ago and has yet to watch any of Matt Smith’s tenure – which is a shame, given Peter Capaldi is taking over the role at the end of this year’s upcoming Christmas special.

Today, and Awaiting the 50th

Now its November 2013, almost a full six years since I watched the episode Rose (alas I don’t know the exact date), and I am still very much a proud, somewhat crazy, Whovian. I have a DVD tower next to my desk with the two top shelves dedicated entirely to Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures. I own all the soundtracks, along with quite a few Doctor Who (new series only) novels and audiobooks, along with a bunch of other memorabilia (including some fan-made ones), and my brother recently sent me a collectible bust of my Doctor he bought me as a gift when he went to Comic-Con which I am still trying to find a place of honor for. I’ve also watched some Classic Who, including the majority of Jon Pertwee’s tenure as the Doctor whom I fell in love with simply from watching clips featured in Doctor Who Confidential – a show which I still miss greatly.

As I await the airing of the 50th anniversary special on the 23rd, I have fallen in love with a fan fiction a friend wrote that features the… well, to avoid spoilers, mystery character seen at the end of The Name of the Doctor and am planning on writing a few “deleted scenes” and a sort of “spin-off” to go along with it after NaNoWriMo is over and I have taken a short reprieve from writing. I also purchased tickets to see the 50th anniversary special in 3D at a movie theater in the area on November 25th with the same best friend I had the series two marathon with in 2009. I’m also looking forward to the next 50 years of the show, as I do agree that it is a show that can go on forever, but as far as the near future goes, I am looking forward to Peter Capaldi taking over the controls of the TARDIS.

I fear I do not have the words to properly end this post,
so instead I will leave you with this, because I find it fitting:

“I always rip out the last page of a book. Then it doesn’t have to end. I hate endings!”
~The Eleventh Doctor, Angels in Manhattan

Are you a Whovian? (akin to Christine)

OR a Nu-Whovian? (akin to Jorie)

{CONTRIBUTOR POST: by Christine for Jorie Loves A Story}

{SOURCE: Badge post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs, with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Tuesday, 19 November, 2013 by readerlymusings in Alternative History, Contributor Feature or Post, Doctor Who, Fan Artwork of TV | Film | Book, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, TARDIS, Time Travel, Transportation Devices, TV Serials & Motion Pictures

{Book Chat} #1: One Book Everyone Should Read | Once

Posted Friday, 15 November, 2013 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

The Book Chat | Sweet Green TangerineOne Book Everyone Should Read | Once (in their lifetime)

I agree with our fearless hostess, that the book we choose to recommend to read this week, should be one that has etched itself into our minds, our hearts, and into the fabric of our being. Characters, of whom, have instilled inside us memories that haunt us long after we have met them, and of whom, re-define our perspective of how we see and view the world around us. Narrative prose that erupts as clear as lightning, permeating our mind’s eye with a hearty imaginative state where we can fully see the world that is knit and stitched together by the writer’s capacity for endeavouring us to see their world as they intended us too. A story that has a girth of knowledge and positive impression of lessons learnt are always best understood after we have transitioned through them. Yet. It’s not an easy question to respond too, because the life of a book reader bent on the written word, is hard to pin down and pick out one book that stands out amidst the shadows of all the other lovelies that we have come to know! I’ve never been one to play favourites and so, this task is rather a difficult choice! I yield to simply referring to one book I think any reader would be happy to become acquainted with, if only for one reading whilst their hunkered in to their own reading affairs and adventures therein!

Before I make my selection, I want to talk a bit about the type of books that I am always anxious to meet and am forevermore blessed to have my path crossed with theirs! You see, there are several books that come to mind, books who strong heroines have touched my life at precisely the right moments to give me a lift of spirits and a breath of a world that has always felt enchantingly familiar!

The Giving Tree by Shel SilversteinI had the benefit of growing up in a house where literary inspiration was at the forefront of discovery! Long before I could sort out how each word was meant to be said by voice, I had the pleasure of ‘listening’ to stories (of all varieties and forms) become brought to life by my Mum! She had a knack for knowing exactly how to empathise each syllable with articulation and clarity! I marveled at how I would ever grow into shoes large enough to understand how to purport the ‘telling of’ a story in the same manner of how I ‘heard her’ speak them to me! It’s an ongoing process even now! What I loved about Silverstein’s poems and visionary genius is his ability to cleverly etch into his collective writings the wit and banterment of a life filt with humour! He gave the best gift you can give to children: thought-provoking rhymes, poems, and stories of characters who ‘teach through their actions’. In this, I have always held close the fond memories of his books. As once I could sort out the words, I could not help but soak into his collections breathing in the world as he saw it through his creative eyes!

The Secret Garden & A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson BurnettBy far, The Secret Garden was more than a mere story for me, as the life of Mary Lennox was one that nestled inside my heart from the very first moment I became acquainted with her circumstances! She had this genuine ability to draw you out of yourself and into the world as she perceived it from a different set of eyes than most. Curiously keen on everything happening around her and yet, with such a graceful measure of innocence that bespoke of a childhood we all hope every child can experience. She was searching for stability and of a place to call home; where roots could grow as strong as she would soon mature! Her friendships with Collin and Dickon are lessons knitted together from the simple truths we all need to accept if we are meant to grow inside our own journey. Whereas with A Little Princess I felt rather akin to Sara Crewe, feeling her thoughts, her emotions, and her uncertainties as she was quite unceremoniously deposited into such a difficult situation without the benefit of protection from a guardian! Where Mary Lennox was independently spunky, I always felt that Sara truly needed a little extra confidence to know she could stand on her own feet and survive. They are each living shattered lives where circumstance and ill-will of those around them start to affect their happiness. These were the stories that compelled me to seek out the depth of historical fiction and epic multi-generational sagas. To see the underpinnings of how characters grow into their shoes so to speak and the passageways they have to walk in order to arrive inside their futures.

Mandie {series} by Lois Gladys LeppardI was quite young when I first began to read the Mandie series as what attracted me to the premise was the fact that a girl who was in search of her father, grandmother, and origins of birth found unforeseen comfort in her Uncle Ned, a Native American. I loved how Leppard moved between the different cultures, as much as how she showed how Mandie’s grandmother influenced her grand-daughter to have a world-view based on experiences, adventures, and travel opportunities. She instilled in Mandie a true sense of freedom which comes from knowledge, empathy, charity, and faith. Mandie is the type of ‘best friend’ you always hope to meet whilst your growing up due to how genuine of a friend she truly is! I liked that she was a bit spunky in some ways too! She never found a challenge too difficult to overcome nor did she pass up a good mystery to solve! She was a girl a threshold ahead of her time, set in the historical past to where even growing up in the 20th century you could see the frameworks of her living world as it was painted so very clearly for you to observe!

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. MontgomeryI suppose you could say you have noticed a trend in the type of lead characters and stories that I have been drawn too since I was a child! Anne of Green Gables is the epitome of a heroine whose spirit and mirth of life will long outlast all of us who have come to know her as intimately as though we were childhood confidantes! Montgomery gave us a real portrait of life and living through Anne’s eyes, and kept Anne rooted in her unique personality whilst the Anne we knew and loved grew into a woman with her own means and family. She dared to step out of the comfort zones of society and willed herself to achieve what many I think in her plight might have simply given up on obtaining at all! She’s the inspiration for all young girls to realise how strong women can be at the times in life we need to assert ourselves and stand strong!

Little House in the Big Woods {Little House series thereof} by Laura Ingalls WilderI still remember curling up with my boxed set of paperback novels by Ms. Wilder wildly lighting my imagination with frontier life! Her stories were so real to me, that I would always make a bit of a tradition out of when I would read the Little House books! IF I could wing it, I would always like to begin them in the early murmurings of Autumn, when the weather would feel unlike Summer! I was fascinated by the simple inclusions of Laura’s life such as the biscuits in her pocket to keep her hands warm and the method of making ‘candy’ out of snow and maple syrup! How many days and years I longed to attempt that recipe myself yet never experienced more than an hour’s worth of frost on the windshield? When the tv series was well on its way of finding its own heart of inspiration from the stories in the books I held close to my heart, I found myself living by extension of the original stories through everything that evolved in the teleplay! I realised years later that there were creative liberties taken, but for me, both Little Houses will always be felt with warm affection! They each in their own way gave us so much more than we could return in thankful notes of gratitude!

A Christmas Carol by Charles DickensAh, Ebenezer! Who doesn’t know of Ebenezer Scrooge! I must have read this story numerous times to the brink that each time it was re-made into a tv mini-series, tv movie, and/or theatrical released motion picture; I would always have the general aspects of his story pop back into my mind! I must say, that there each new variation of this story I see something new and wholly different from the others. Each adaptation if you will focuses on something else that Dickens was attempting to impart on the world. I have not come across one adaptation I haven’t enjoyed and if I may be so bold to lament: I hope there are several more variations in the future still yet to come! The best life lesson to give any child is the one of generosity without the expectation of returned gratitude. To give without conditions is the greatest gift we can give each other! And, to remain humble to all walks of life and circumstances whilst we traverse our lifepaths is an even greater philosophy to aspire towards!

White Fang by Jack LondonI remember when I first started to mention to my teachers I wanted to read the works of Jack London, I was deeply surprised by their reactions! IF they were not explaining to me that they were meant for ‘boys’ not ‘girls’ they were trying to persuade me to read lighter fare! The truth of the matter is I have always felt such a natural curiosity and attachment to the natural world, that it was a natural progression for me to discover White Fang! I never understood why there had to be such strict perimeters when I was growing up! Boy. Girl. Gender this, gender that! Goodness! What I loved about the book (as my parents noted my desire and took me to the bookshoppe to pick out a copy!) is the pure and raw adventure to it! I loved it beyond what words could express and when I saw the motion picture — it felt as though I had come full circle! Very impactful for a young girl!

A Wrinkle in Time {Time Quartet series thereof} by Madeleine L’ EngleThis particular book didn’t greet me until I was in my twenties as I was seeking out a way to jump-dive into reading quantum physics! The full story is hidden within the link I’ve just provided! What I wanted to say in this post is that I would love to complete my readings of the Time Quartet to see what occurs ‘after’ they return home! I remember wondering ever so curiously what would happen next and even, how what they had experienced with their cheeky and quirky visitors would affect the rest of their lives? As each new experience alters your perception and how you proceed forward. In this particular case, its a rather extraordinary excursion! I suppose I shall remain patient until I can gather the remaining three books! I still stand by my declaration that this is the best introduction to Flatland which can serve as the next stepping stone into any quantum physics or mechanics book of your choosing!

The Indigo Notebook {book one: The Notebook series} & What the Moon Saw by Laura ResauAround the age of nine and twenty, I stumbled across Ms. Resau’s books at my local library! Intrigued I started to pick them up and read them. Before long I realised I wanted to read more, so I started to generate purchase requests to keep up with her publication schedule! Until one day I realised, my goodness! The breadth of what she writes into these tales is not only for the emotionally mature young adult (due to the story-lines and character arcs), but they are for the reader who likes to transcend out of the regular offerings and seek out something a bit heartier to chew on! IF you like to ruminate about your readings and allow the heart of a story to soak into you, I can give you no higher recommendation than seeking out a title by Laura Resau! The fact that she writes about cultures in Latin America only warms my heart more being that I have traveled to Mexico myself and saw such a keen insight into the foods, culture, and traditions that I had observed myself!

The Sixty-Eight Rooms {book one: The Sixty-Eight Rooms series} by Marianne MaloneAh, adventure through time travel which stems out of a museum! How many of us read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil F. Frankweiler when we were younger!? Hoping to have the courage to sneak away, tuck into a museum and see what happens when you turn on your torches? (flashlights!) The fact that I had the chance to stay-over at a Children’s Museum for a Night Away made this book even more exciting because I truly did ‘live that adventure’ even if I was surrounded by chaperones! You know children always find a way for ‘alone time’ and let their curiosity get the better of them! Laughs. Back to the story here, this is one of the books that sparked my interest into seeking out more stories of the French! I won’t spoilt anything and tell you why at this junction in time,… but if you are curious about Chicago’s Art Institute’s Thorne Rooms, look no further! Dig in!

The Golden Hour {book one: The Golden Hour series} by Maiya WilliamsIf you are reading carefully you will have noticed I provided a guiding map of which books to read in order and which to proceed into next. However, to make it easier to follow whatever you do, do not feel the inclination to read this book *ahead!* of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil F. Frankweiler & The Sixty-Eight Rooms! You will thank me later! Of course, technically you could read A Wrinkle in Time either ahead of the first of three in this sequence or have it proceed directly after The Golden Hour! Reason being, there is a play on themes that are integral to each of these stories! And, yes, this one has a French connection as well! I think what I loved about this one is the plausibility factor of how time is treated and shifted around. Alas, plausible in the sense if you have already accepted elementary truths of science fiction!

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline KellyCalpurnia Tate took me by complete surprise around two years ago! I was holding off checking out this novel for the longest of times, until one day I realised why not? IF I felt the story was not one I could readily soak into the only thing I’d have to do is return it directly in other for another reader to give it a bit of a go! Inside this coming-of age tale is a spunky (eh, smiles!) wholly true-to-herself girl who is striving to make a connection to a family member who is not readily understood or accepted in her family unit. I felt anguish along with Calpurnia whilst the events unfolded for both of them and I felt my heart grow as the ending chapters brought me to my farewell of her life. I must confess, I could have entertained another installment if only to see what ‘came next’ in her ‘evolution’.

Red Thread Sisters by Carol Antoinette PeacockMy book showcase review of this novel paints my feelings and thoughts in such a deeply personal way that I know it can stand on its own as to express my gratitude for finding this story! However, what I felt I should impart right now is that how powerful we can give children the ability to accept and process all families at a young age! Orphans and children without families are rather commonplace in today’s world, but how many children who grow up with a family know of their fears, hopes, and dreams? Or, how difficult it is for them to accept a ‘new’ family when they were not fully sure if they wanted to leave behind the only home they had ever known? Peacock writes a compelling story of two girls who befriended each other at a group home in China and how their evolving lives would remain entwined!

The clever observer will note immediately that I have chosen to focus on books that we are generally meant to read during our growing years, and of course, I haven’t spotlighted all of them (from my own readings OR generally known by others), but I have picked out the Lucky 13 (it is 2013, after all!) Picks, which holds within the list the selection I shall showcase in a moment! Each of them are interconnected on the level that, in each story, the main character(s) are undertaking a transition in their lives. The shape and nature of the transition is as widely unique as the characters’ themselves, yet each boy and girl featured in these lovely books has to dig a bit deeper than they ever thought possible to even hope to understand the unique situations and circumstances that start to affect their personal worlds directly! They must take on adversity and circumvent outcomes that might not have been as keenly positive if they had not found the true strength to carry-on through what crossed their paths!

Having said this, the one book that I would refer someone to read to have a reading experience that would give them the benefit of all of these stories combined is:

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Mr. Silverstein has the ability to transport us through a portal of literature, by which, our curious and innocent eyes remain fully intact. Even if we are re-visiting this story as adults, who may or may not be jaded by life experiences, or as a new reader, who never had the proper chance to read this story in their growing years. It’s a book that is not hinged to one particular age or another, but rather is universal in its message and at its very core, is a lesson that substantiates all the other titles on the list! For you see, if you never were introduced to “The Giving Tree”, you might not be as readily accepting of the themes, subjects, topics, and climaxes that these other stories contain! Do you not agree?

{*NOTE: All books featured in this post are listed under *Children’s Lit: The Undiscovered Frontier*, for the express purpose of highlighting my work-in-progress to stitch together reviews of the books I have written down on that page! As for each book &/or series listed, there is a world of transformative literature awaiting the reader!}

This post was originally intended to be shown on 21 September 2013!

{SOURCE: The Book Chat badge is provided by Sweet Green Tangerine
for participants to show their solidarity!}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Friday, 15 November, 2013 by jorielov in Adoption, Book Chat, Brothers and Sisters, Children's Classics, Children's Literature, Coming-Of Age, Family Life, Illustrated Poetry, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Orphans & Guardians, Poetry, Quantum Physics, Revolutionary France, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction, Siblings, The Natural World, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure, Wilderness Adventures, Young Adult Fiction

*SFN* | Book Review: The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead

Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2013 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead
[Book One of The Bright Empire series]

[Book Two: The Bone House]
[Book Three: The Spirit Well]
[Book Four: The Shadow Lamp]

Published By: Thomas Nelson, 2010
Page Count: 416

Borrowed Book By: My local library’s ILL (inter-library loan) service as they did not carry it in their catalogue. What is interesting though is that they have book three “The Spirit Well” instead!  Therefore, if I find that I enjoy reading this I will ILL books two and four! I was thankful that the request went through in time for me to read this book in conjunction with SFN!

What drew me to read this story:  Is the fact that the very premise of the book acknowledges the existence of fissures in time, which I found to be a riveting opening to a book, much less a full series! And, the fact that people could ‘walk through’ these individual time fissures and experience something unlike what we generally experience was a story I wanted to read! Made possible by a discovery of a sequence of straight lines known as ‘ley lines’, which in of themselves omit an electromagnetic current! If you have been following me along with my SFN posts, you will already know that this would be of key interest, as I happen to fancy stories that involve ‘time travel’ and have recently begun to become acquainted with “The Doctor” of “Doctor Who”! Its evoking the same sense I received from watching “The Adjustment Bureau” where reality is perceptional and can be altered with the opening of a single door OR at the flick of a switch you do not see by sight. The prospect of an ordinary person ‘stumbling across’ this altered state of time, who is summoned by a person of their past is an adventure I thought was well worth taking!

Inspired to Share: When I originally settled on reading this particular story, I couldn’t help but hit the ‘play button’ on the book trailer, which was listed in the upper right corner of the author’s website! I am ever so curious about book trailers, as I have been finding this year that instead of the regular fare of trailers, we are being happily delighted by seeing more ‘mini-film’ versions!! These sort of trailers not only have bang-on accuracy as far as giving the heart and context of the story to a potential reader, but if that reader (such as I) has a fancy for motion pictures, they become an engaging platform in which one’s mind can jump-dive into the story as though they were living through the character as they would in the seat of a darkened theater watching a first-run film! This next genesis of book trailers has captured me as being the ones that endear you long-term towards the book your about to pick up, as it gives you such a riveting visual aide to help you sink easier into the setting of the world just within reach of your fingertips! The wicked part is that they took the information on the inside cover flap and turnt it into the book trailer!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

“The Skin Map” by Stephen Lawhead, Bright Empires Series #1 book trailer

by Thomas Nelson featured on the ChristianBook channel

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The backdrop of science in The Skin Map:

As I dip into the opening chapters of The Skin Map, my mind is attempting to ferret out the knowledge that I had gleamed and gained through my prior readings of the quantum realms. The very same readings as I had outlined only hours prior in my Book Showcase focused on Time Travel! Who knew then, that all of that would become a bit necessary to read a book such as this? Or, at the very least to have a bit of a working knowledge of some of the theories that are being discussed? I feel as though it were but yesterday when I read Flatland!

I liked how Cosmio (the great-grandfather) was pointing out to his (great) grandson that those who walk across the ley lines cannot tamper with the power of their transport abilities – such as when Kit unabashedly felt that he could simply walk his girlfriend through the same alley and arrive in the exact same place he would be himself. It brings up the layers of complexity that time travel involves and how multi-layered our dimensional space truly is. It also brought back to me conversations I had whilst sitting in my high school library and contemplating the ‘layers’ of both time and reality itself as it pertained to the history in which our lives are lived. It was a dialogue of elementary quantum mechanics but I never forgot how excited my classmate was for speaking about a subject I felt he should pursue in University.

I find it instinctively distinct that Kit and Cosimo are traveling in time to alternative realities that are happening in places that they can recognise but they are not on the same ‘time-frame’ of where they originated or from whence they originally ‘came’. It’s a complex theory but the author, Lawhead has an excellent way of handling the science and getting the reader caught up in the story without feeling as though an upper level of science is required to understand the working theory of how the characters are able to travel!

A curious notation about the leys in the novel is when it’s mentioned that they are ‘time sensitive’. I found this intriguing as the premise of using the leys is not to walk into a ‘different time’ per se of your living history or the history of your time, but rather to step into a parallel alternative reality. IF then the leys are in tune with time itself it would stand to question then do all alternative realities coincide with our own time? And, if they do, how is that even possible? Whereas the opening of portals occur at sunrise or sunset, which I found even more curious as when I read the novel “The Golden Hour” by Maiya Williams she used this same theory as a basis of the time travel in her story. Is there concrete evidence floating in and around this premise? Hence the reason she called traveling at sunset as “the golden hour”, as an another example of a writer putting a ‘key’ to her story in her title!

Entering the Adventure one fissure of time in a nanosecond:

Before Kit can even understand ‘where’ he is going and ‘what’ he is meant to be helping his great-grandfather achieve, he has accidentally set off a chain of events that are digging him deeper into traveling the ley lines! I am enjoying the pace of the story, as much as I am enjoying how the story is playing out for the reader! Lawhead has included a few lovely distractions and villains for good measure (of course!), which mark in my mind that this is one of those stories you’re not quite sure what is going to ‘pop out at you’ at any given moment! Part of it reminds me of “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising“, as it has elemental familiarities for me!

As Kit proceeds to accept his great-grandfather’s beliefs in the ley lines, his first venture towards full acceptance was traveling back into the 17th Century to listen to a lecturer who ended up being Cosimo’s partner and a Quester: Sir Henry Fayth. Lawhead has a pure knack for bringing to life flamboyantly secure men of a certain age who are fully contained into their own personality as to evoke a bold presence right before your eyes! I wasn’t sure whom I admired more, his great-grandfather or Sir Henry! I had the feeling that Kit still felt out of step with all of it, the quest to recover the skin map (as the title is elusive to the adventure) and the fact he is now living counter-current to a living timeline he has always known.

Ordinary frustrations of Kit Livingstone:

I nearly cackled with humour whilst walking with Kit as he makes every vein attempt to reach his girlfriend Wilhelmina at a joint shopping rendezvous point! The way in which he would put it, it’s merely a task for switching tracks (for the London tube system), hailing down a bus, crossing through a (rather infamous) park, and heading up a road to greet his dear girlfriend! Yet. Life like art isn’t always a mere ‘walk in the park’! I was seriously having trouble containing myself, as although I had come off two rather emotional Doctor Who episodes (Turn Left & Journey’s End – clearly I am not watching this series in the proper order!) how could I not stifle a bubble of a laugh over every which way to Sunday his life is being affected by a comedy of errors!? Those are the particular and precise moments in my own life where I start to see a stitching of a pattern take hold inside my mind’s eye. Were the events that for me, in those singular moments, rather disastrous really as such? Or, were they universal signs of a serendipitous ripple of coincidence that was writ to happen if only for certain paths to cross at the right ‘moment in time’? Have you naught noticed the same in your own life? People and places you might never have become acquainted with if your life hadn’t altered its course even to the smallest degree to have you arrive at a place you never had been, and yet, a purpose was met that was not of your prior knowledge?

The interaction with his long-lost great-grandfather is purely classic as far as these meetings generally go, but what I liked about it which set it a part from most meetings such as these is the manner in which his great-grandfather was delivering the ‘news of his life’! I liked how his great-grandfather (of whom he was apparently named for as they share the same name! ‘Kit’ isn’t his proper first name, Cosimo is!) counter-balanced Kit’s cocky-headed responses by a calm, collected, and deeply humourous dictation of the facts! The insertion of British phrases and slang made it altogether priceless for me! As I oft am eager to read a full-on Brit novel replete with their own stylings of vernacular!

Review of The Skin Map:

A wanton wanderer simply known as “Kit” flounders around in an ill-attempt at sorting out his life and the path he would like to follow. He never expected to take an unexpected trip to an alternative reality parallel to his own time when his great-grandfather appeared out of nowhere. The swirling of thunder, rain, and storm was actually a gateway arch into traveling along the ley lines. This sets him on a course he is not even sure he belongs, whilst learning the history and technique of this sort of travel, his gravest concern is reconnecting with Wilhelmina, of whom was lost when he recklessly attempted to bring her with him.

Wilhelmina may not have believed the far-fetched excuse that her lackluster boyfriend Kit had given her as a plausible reason for missing her shopping excursion, but finding herself lost on a desolate road made her question if he was telling her the truth. The nearly forgotten language of her grandmother (German) came in handy when she was rescued by a German-speaking man (Englebert) on his way out of the country. Her journey began the moment she accepted his offer to take her with him. What I found most incredible is that her side of the story is leading her to finding her true self as a baker and as a businesswoman. Whereas I am not as sure if she would have had as much growth in her own time as she is having in the 17th Century! Prague is beautifully brought to life through her adventure of setting up a bakery with her rescuer!

At nearly the half-way junction point, Lawhead starts to cast a curious new reality upon the infamous landmarks in England that we are all most familiar with as to having a purpose other than what it appears to be. For such an instance, Stonehenge in this novel is referenced as being a portal – a proper hub for extracting oneself through time into another dimension separate from our own. Now, I am not sure the validity of this claim, but I do know that there is more to Stonehenge than meets the eye! And, surely more than claiming that it’s a gigantic telescope! What makes the science plausible in the story is how close the quantum sciences are coming to terms with everyday reality.

Wilhelmina’s spunky spirit shines brightly when she’s describing to Englebert how to get the bakery back online by incorporating coffee! The hilarity of the situation is that she’s a woman from the 20th century attempting to explain this to a man of the 17th! And, his confusion reigns supreme! Whilst Englebert embarked on a sojourn quest to get her blasted beans, he made a discovery on the docks that could change everything! Like most men who encounter adversity, his spirit only started to brighten once he saw a turning of the tide! He was still on the fence about her plan to turn the bakery into a profit when she introduced him to the bitter coffee, of which he felt was atrocious! She calmly replied to his vexation that it’s a triumph as they can serve sweets to compliment the bitter! Spoken like a true woman!

 [This post is in-progress! Drop back to see the concluding thoughts! Alas! I need to re-ILL! Oy!]

This book review is brought to you by:

Sci-Fi November | Hosted by Rinn Reads

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. The book trailer by Thomas Nelson via Christianbook.com 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, 2013.

Related Articles:

Ley Line – (en.wikipedia.org)

Alfred Watkins – (en.wikipedia.org)

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2013 by jorielov in Alternative Reality, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Book Trailer, Philosophy, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, SFN Bingo, Time Travel, Treasure Hunt

*SFN* | A Book Showcase [focused on] Time Travel!

Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2013 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

SFN_TimeTravel

Time travel is such a curious prospect to wrap one’s mind around because it bends and yields to our understandings of everything that we hold rather dear! To be able to tip the veils back and peer into our past, whether lived or unlived (as time is temporal) is such a proposition to make anyone curious, I would think the possibilities and the repercussions of time travel being used for the good or succombing to evil, make time travel a bit of a dicey proposition! I, myself, have always been keenly in tune with time travel plots in other media outlets such as tv serials as outlayed in my post just the other night! However, as far as reading about time travel in the purest sense of the word, that is something I have only begun to do in recent years! Mind you, I would have started far sooner if I could have sorted out how to get copies of the next books in a certain young adult series I will be highlighting ever so shortly! The main appeal for me, is seeing a glimpse into different cultures, traditions, and lifestyles of not only the historical (and known) past but of people we may not have ever expected to cross paths with who live in other galaxies and worlds completely! There are unlimited number of transportal routes one could take as a time traveler, and part of the adventure for me is making the journey into the complete unknown!

My earliest memory of reading a book that involved the displacement or disbursement of time would be “The Purple Door” by Janifer C. De Vos. This served as a gateway into an exciting series entitled: Guardians. I was in elementary school at the time when I read it, and this book served as an electrifying catapult into a whole new dimension of experiencing a story! You see, the main character travels into a different time and space whilst only expecting to be having a summer job at an antiques store! My memory of the particulars surrounding this series has vacated my memory banks, but I do look forward to re-reading it at some point (once I locate which box I have put it in!), as I was able to find the next two books in the series (via Powells which has a lovely out-of-print service!): The Silver Glass and The Dark Watch.

What disappointed me at the time I read The Purple Door, is that I could not carry-on with the series closer to when I had discovered the first book! (this would become a trait for certain series unfortunately!) I would always aspire to find other series which would push the envelope and limits on time and our sensory perceptions of time. It would take quite a long while for me to unearth A Wrinkle in Time, as a segue into reading my introduction to Quantum Physics library which I had purchased out of a mail-order book club (I believe it was called: The Library of Science originally) towards the start of the 2000’s. I was attempting to get into The Elegant Universe: Super-Strings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene as well as Lucifer’s Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry by Frank Close. What I appreciated about the first book in “The Time Quartet” series is that it illuminates the aspects of the quantum realms within the scope of what can be imagined. The hardest part I think of quantum physics isn’t the mathematical language needed to take the theories to a higher level of understanding, but rather, the ability to directly imagine and purport into imagery what the theories are attempting to show us! In this way, I have always highly recommended that anyone keen on this side of science to start with A Wrinkle in Time! From there, I moved forward into Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott, which helped fuse the two together for me! I shifted easily back into where I had left off in my readings for the books of Greene & Close, as well as attempting to seek out other scientists who were producing books on these subjects that fascinated me so very much! The short list of people who intrigued me were: Clifford A. Pickover, Michio Kaku, Professor Stephen Hawking, and Carl Sagan.

I took a bit of a hiatus from my pursuit of reading non-fiction pieces on time and the quantum realms, opting instead when a new branch of my local library opened to seek out fictional stories that were cast into the same vein as The Purple Door of my youth! I wanted to seek out other writers’ to pick up where I had left off before exchanging the fictional side of this subject for the non-fiction! This is how I came to become immersed into the awe-inspiring worlds of The Golden Hour by Maiya Williams, The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone, and The Dragon in the Driveway by Kate Klimo! What I hadn’t realised at the time is that each of these was the gateway book into a brand-new series! I am still working my way towards reading the next installments as my local library only has the original beginnings rather than the sequels!

In keeping with this earnest approach of mine, I decided that it would be best to dip into both of my conjoined interests, and find a steady balance between fiction and non-fiction even during Sci-Fi November! My viewings of “Doctor Who” have brought back to life my excitement and pure giddiness in celebrating a time traveler on the small screen! However, I do not want to only rely on my ability to seek out media forms of story-telling, and would rather garnish a bit of a nice foothold in literature as this is one particular subject that has been written on for quite a long time! As with Steampunk, I am finding that there are many facets that determine the outcome of a time travel adventure! Sometimes the time travel elements are subtle, barely noticeable, and other times, they have such resounding effects that it puts everyone in the story in direct peril! I have found time travel to be used in cross-genres, such as: juvenile and young adult fiction, romance, historical fiction, science fiction, and even high fantasy! I am sure there are a heap of others, but what I wanted to say, is that due to the diverse selection, I could very well be reading stories of time travel for many an eon yet to come! And, what a thrilling revelation that is for someone as giddy as I am about the written word!?

I can honestly say, that when it comes to my journey into books whose central theme is ‘Time Travel’, I am as much as a beginner with this genre as I was with Steampunk! I only have a few books under me to where I have been able to seek out authors & stories that catch my fancy to read!  Which is why I would love to open up a discussion thread right now, and encourage anyone who has had history with Time Travel in Literature to post a link back to a post on your own blog that delves into how you came to start reading Time Travel &/or of whom your favourite authors, stand-alone novels, and Time Travel serial books would be!? Be sure to come back to this post to attach the link of your post in the comments! ONLY link directly to the post you created on this topic, DO NOT link to the main page of your blog! I will be checking! Thank you! I cannot wait to see what everyone’s post!! :)

In the intrim, these are the books I pulled from my local library to explore this month:

The Skin Map (Book One: Bright Empires series) by Steve Lawhead
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
WorldSoul (Book One: WorldSoul series) by Liz Williams
(non-fiction) Breaking the Time Barrier: The Race to Build the First Time Machine by Jenny Randles
(non-fiction) Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time by Richard J. Gott
(non-fiction) Time: A Traveler’s Guide by Clifford A. Pickover
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
The Little Book by Selden Edwards
The Little Prince by Selden Edwards
The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Fleming
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
City at the End of Time by Greg Bear

I wanted to select a broad selection of novels that would not only change my preconceptions of what you can experience in time travel literature but I wanted to be a bit bold and daring in my choices! I decided to shift away from the quite obvious choice of reading “The Time Machine” as much as the fact, I already knew I would not want to read “The Time Traveler’s Wife” having had seen the film of the same name! (truly one of the most gutting motion pictures to experience!) I decided to dip into non-fiction as well for a bit, as I do have a keen interest in the science behind science fiction, and I knew that this would be a great branch to cross-relate into science! I am not sure if I will finish the non-fiction titles during the month, but whatever I am able to read in those selections I shall relay to you! Normally a non-fiction book takes me a bit longer to read in full due to the length and depth!

I am curious once more if anyone participating in SFN or a reader who is visiting our blogs during the event has a familiarity with the choices I have made!? And, if you perhaps have others to suggest to me in return!?

This feature is brought to you by:

Sci-Fi November | Hosted by Rinn Reads

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! Post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Tuesday, 5 November, 2013 by jorielov in Astronomy, Bookish Discussions, Brothers and Sisters, Cosmology, Library Find, Library Love, Quantum Physics, Revolutionary France, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, SFN Bingo, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure