Posted Monday, 10 November, 2014 by jorielov C.A. Gray, Invincible, Piercing the Veil series, Wanderlust Publishing 1 Comment
Invincible 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 “Invincible” 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.
The Afterword is a true gift:
Ms. Gray did a wonderful job at describing the finer points of the science included in the first two installments of the Piercing the Veil series as much as she went on to describe in broad terms what can be found throughout the trilogy. You can drink in information about the following: Penumbra, Nimbus, the Taijitu; including how the Penumbra can cross between worlds; why alchemy plays a part in the back-stories; further explanation on the Philosopher’s Stone and the role of the Arthurian legends. The layers of quantum physics, super-string theories, and the role of each of the extraordinary events etched out of theoretical science and chaos theory are given a special area of notation to break down the basics in layman’s terms to how everything provided the gateway for grounding the Piercing the Veil series in known science.
I appreciate seeing how the author’s research not only heightened the enjoyment of reading a Sci-Fantasy novel, but how each piece of her research went to building the structure of not only the world within the series but the elemental moments of where metaphysics meets the quantum realms of conceptability. It is a strong series for those readers who enjoy a compelling series wrought out of keeping science a forefront of merit within science fiction & fantasy.
Invincible
Peter Stewart is a dead ringer for the legendary King Arthur, and because of that, everyone in Carlion believes that he is the Child of the Prophecy, destined to destroy the Shadow Lord. But Peter doesn’t want to be a hero; all he wants to be is left alone.
Lily Portman also fits the prophecy. Having spent her entire life as an orphan and a misfit, Lily would love nothing more than to be the Child of the Prophecy, so she envies Peter… but she’s also developing a crush on him. And it seems to her that he couldn’t care less.
Isdemus and the Watchers believe that it is only a matter of time before Peter’s twin brother Kane betrays them all and frees the Shadow Lord. The winner of the war to come depends on who has the legendary Philosopher's Stone—the only problem is, it has been lost since the days of Arthur. With the help of a skeptical anthropologist, the Watchers attempt to decode the ancient treasure maps that lead them to the heart of Egypt and the dawn of time. Meanwhile, Lily and Peter discover that Peter holds the real key to the mystery... but will they be too late?
Places to find the book:
Series: Piercing the Veil, No. 2
Also in this series: Intangible
on 27th April, 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 422
The search for the Child of Prophecy continues
to expand in proportion to the hunt for Excalibur:
Gray doesn’t allow her readers to take too much of a breath between installments in her Piercing the Veil series, as the opening Prologue of Invincible directly picks up where Intangible leaves off. A mortal wounding battle between the Light and Dark combatants forged in the ending of the first installment are not only attempting to make sense of what happened but the truer revelation of what was revealed by the disappearance of Kane. Kane from the moment he stepped into Peter’s life was a bane of his existence; always pushing Peter towards self-discovery in a near destructive way to pit Peter’s life against the knowledge of who Peter is within the Prophecy itself. Kane instinctively acts impulsively to further his own curious mind towards discovering the true meaning of all of their lives. He grew up with the stories of their worlds colliding into legend and prophecy but he is not entirely on the side of the Light; his heart became embittered by the fact he considered Peter’s role in his life to be a nuisance rather than a gift.
Kane is a character whose foundation of his spirit is hinged to a pursuit of glory whereas Peter’s heart was always tethered to his father and his mother. His parents grounded him even if he had a bit of growth to undertake as far as how to live without bitterness and how to grasp a hold of patience in the face of repetitive structure he felt was beneath him. Each of the young boys had a glimmer of insight towards what is right and what is inherently wrong, but one of them is closer to aligning themselves with a true darkness that could effectively worsen their lot in the life they were meant to ascend inside.
Kane pursued Excalibur for personal vindication and the glorified success finding it secure in his hands would afford him within the boundaries of his world and the laws therein. He was seeking a self-righteous path to outwit and outstep Peter; whereas Peter was merely trying to sort out how the logical side of his brain needed to start to accept what exists outside of science and tangible wisdom.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Monday, 10 November, 2014 by jorielov in Arthurian Legend, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Bullies and the Bullied, Coming-Of Age, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Domestic Violence, Earthen Magic, England, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Foster Care, Genre-bender, Good vs. Evil, Indie Author, Light vs Dark, Mental Health, Modern Day, Mythological Societies, Naturopathic Medicine, Orphans & Guardians, Parapsychological Gifts, Parapsychological Suspense, Passionate Researcher, Quantum Physics, Retrospective Memories of a Series, Royal Social Media, School Life & Situations, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays, Sci-Fi November, Science Fantasy, Seers, Social Services, Speculative Fiction, Spin-Off Authors, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Superstrings, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Time Shift, Transfer Student at School, Writing Style & Voice, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Posted Thursday, 30 October, 2014 by jorielov C.A. Gray, Intangible, Piercing the Veil series, Wanderlust Publishing 0 Comments
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!
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Thursday, 30 October, 2014 by jorielov in Arthurian Legend, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Bullies and the Bullied, Coming-Of Age, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Domestic Violence, Earthen Magic, England, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Foster Care, Genre-bender, Good vs. Evil, Indie Author, Light vs Dark, Mental Health, Modern Day, Mythological Societies, Naturopathic Medicine, Orphans & Guardians, Parapsychological Gifts, Parapsychological Suspense, Passionate Researcher, Quantum Physics, Retrospective Memories of a Series, Royal Social Media, School Life & Situations, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays, Sci-Fi November, Science Fantasy, Seers, Social Services, Speculative Fiction, Spin-Off Authors, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Superstrings, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Time Shift, Transfer Student at School, Writing Style & Voice, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction