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The Future by Gore
In the future, according to the former vice president, national governments will hold less sway than multinational corporations, there will be no privacy and all the world’s information will be freely available, we will struggle with basic strategic resources like topsoil and fresh water all the while we will try to change the genetic make-up of humanity (with possibly costly genetic failures) and continue to ruin our planet’s ecology and climate by the reckless use of greenhouse gasses. Yeah, the future looks a lot like Blade Runner.
The Future
By Al Gore
Random House
January 2013
The problem with Gore’s book? It’s right on. The changes that science fiction writers have seen and envisioned coming are coming and are even here. (Consider The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi for a recent, excellent novel with similar themes.)
Unlike Science Fiction, the Vice President breaks down the coming changes in deep, but easier to understand sections:
1) Earth, Inc. – the globalization of economic factors, the movement of labor from developed to developing countries and “robosourcing” (the movement of labor from humans to robots.
2) The Global Mind –the rise of the internet to connect all of mankind in network similar to the way a mind works with billions of bits of information travelling instantaneously around the globe and (frighteningly) the complete lack of privacy users can expect.
3) The change in power – from U.S. centric to global, from governments to corporations.
4) Strategic Resource Loss – the depletion of strategic resources like topsoil and fresh water due to the increase in the world’s population.
5) Future Science – the technology that is rapidly changing the way we practice medicine, how we have the power to manipulate DNA and the path of our genetic future along with new techs that will impact our world and lives.
6) Climate Change – (of course) the impact of manmade global warming and climate changes due to reckless use of greenhouse gases.
This book is so dense that the audio book is 18 hours long and filled with words that would make your average young adult reader grimace in lack of comprehension. There are some great call-outs, though, that everyone should be able to understand. (And some movies that warn of a similar issue, for those who do read at a young adult level 
“When I became Vice President in 1993, there were on average four different offices representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture located within every one of the 3000 counties in the United States yet the percentage of total jobs represented by farm jobs had declined to 2%. In other words, a determined and expensive national policy to promote agriculture for a century and a half did little or nothing to prevent the massive loss of employment opportunities on farms. Although these policies arguably contributed to the massive increase in agricultural productivity. But the larger point is that many systemic technology driven changes are simply too powerful for any set of policies to hold back.”
The Vice President rightly points out that the changes are coming and will be more and more difficult to stop or slow if action isn’t taken now. Unlike the above situation, which Republicans would likely love to read out of context, we are still early on in the genetic modification of humans and need to get ahead of the curve by making changes to our DNA illegal now, before they become commonplace. (Ala, the Island or Gattaca.)
A theme that comes up over and again is the Vice President’s call to change accounting practices to count the costs of natural resources utilization and ecological impact: “The emergence of rapid unsustainable growth in population, cities, resources consumption, depletion of top soil, fresh water supplies and living species, pollution flows, and economic output that is measured and guided by an absurd and guided by a distorted set of universally accepted methods that blind us to the destructive consequences of self deceiving choices we are routinely making.”
Some may jump at that “self deceiving choices” phrase and go for the cheap shot about the Vice President selling his cable TV channel to Al Jazeera, the fact is that the future envisioned in the book is coming and no amount of character assault should distract us from quick choices and changes. (Also seen in Mad Max and every other post-apocalyptic movie about the fall of society based on a scarcity of natural resources).
The scariest section in my opinion was the section on the Global Mind and the lack of privacy we should expect. I immediately drew a connection between this book’s concerns and Arther C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter’s prophetic novel, the Light of Other Days, where characters wore privacy suits to hide their gender and keep private their DNA.
This book reads like a cautionary tale of what our society is coming to and the massively important decisions we need to make. To make them, though, we need to get past the arguments over global warming and climate change and the partisan politics (Gore hasn’t been in any elected office for 13 years!) I can’t see any logical reason to oppose the conclusion that man has negatively impacted global climate change and we need to make adjustments. Even if you don’t believe in climate change can’t we at least agree that less smog is good for us?
I highly recommend this book. And if you enjoy audio books, I recommend the audio book version of this even more than the print version. The Vice President reads it himself, and while he can come across as the long winded professor who’s lecture we all doodled through in High School, when he get’s passionate about the subject you can hear it and frankly that helps with some who may doubt the veracity of Mr. Gore. This should build empathy; a great starting point for discussion and positive change.
A note to my Christian friends: why are you against climate change? Is it only because you are Republican and this is a Democrat issue? Have we looked at the research or just the Facebook timeline pictures with the snarky bumper sticker phrases? Taking care of the environment IS a Christian virtue and responsibility.
Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Firebrand by Philip
Two worlds separated by a magical Veil collide in a dazzling mix of fantasy and dark ages, where demonic fairies impersonate priests who burn “witches” to sate their blood lust, where witch queens rule immortals through threat of death or banishment, and where a young boy filled with anger and hate wants only to be feared and respected.
Firebrand
Rebel Angels #1
by Gillian Philip
Tor
February 2013
Seth MacGregor is rejected by his mother, a powerful witch, and ignored by his father, a lord of a small village. His only friend, although not at first, is his half brother Conal. The same Conal in the opening pages of this book is about to be burned at the stake if Seth doesn’t put him out of his misery first with a well placed crossbow shot.
Without giving anything away this is the story of Seth and Conal and their growth and impending conflict with the forces of darkness in the real world (16th Century Brittish Isles,) and in their land beyond the Veil. There is political manuevering, battles, magic, war, court intrigue, love – everything a good fantasy novel should have. And Gillian Philip does it well.
From start to finish I was hooked by this story and by this broken young boy who we all know is so much more than we find him. This is only the first book in the series and I’m in line to get the next two. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a fantasy author’s creation this much.
I highly recommend it.
Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Louder than Words by Plissner
This is a story of an underage high schooler who learns to speak again after a terrible tragedy through intense physical contact. Read: sexual acts.
Louder than Words
by Laurie Plissner
Merit Press
December 2012
The young lady loses her whole family in a car accident, loses her memory and loses the ability to speak. A young man who can actually read her thoughts comes along and wins her heart and in the end her ability to speak back for her. Along the way, she also learns about the truth of the accident.
This isn’t your normal love story. This is smut with under age characters.
[SPOILERS]
This is not a book for teens. Not only does it have violence (Sasha is saved from imminent sexual assault), and massive quantities of cussing (including all the way up to many, many F words), but also includes explicit sexual activities up to and including oral sex. In the end, she learns to speak BECAUSE of the sex. This is an awkward chapter of the current sex-solves-everything book fad, along with the 50 Shades series, Twilight’s non-stop lust-a-thon in books 3 and 4 and so on. Sex is so degraded by the way it is inappropriately lifted up that readers can’t possibly be satisfied with real world love. When you find that sex is abusive, like in 50 shades, or doesn’t heal all wounds, like in this book, you are left more empty than before.
This book is smut. Teens should not read it because the violence, language and sexuality is inappropriate for their age and adults should not read it because reading about two under age lovers is also inappropriate.
This is the second book I’ve read from Merit Press and it’s clear to me that they are interested in pushing the boundaries of books about children and teens. The language, sexuality, and violence in the books they publish are simply unexplainable. I recommend you keep your teens (and yourself) far away from this publisher.
Arieltopia, Young Adult Editor, is an 12 year old avid reader – usually going through a book a day – who gives readers a unique perspective on Young Adult, Teen Fiction, along with adult fiction: an actual teenager’s perspective.
Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
A Beautiful Truth by McAdams
Walt had been able to give everything to his wife Judy, a beautiful home, wonderful belongings and more. However, there was one thing Walt could not give to Judy and that was a child.
A Beautiful Truth
By Colin McAdams
Hamish Hamilton CA / Soho Press
March 2013 / September 2013
A Beautiful Truth is told simultaneously from both the human perspective and the chimpanzees. Walt cannot stand to see the sadness in Judy’s eyes anymore from not having children of her own. There had been sadness in her eyes for years that even with all of the wonderful things Walt provided for Judy, just could not ease the hurt and longing for children of their own.
After seeing a circus chimpanzee Walt is convinced a chimp could be raised like a child. Walt sets off on a mission to buy a chimp for his wife Judy in hopes that it can ease some of the hurt she suffers. A Beautiful Truth is about the meaning of family, the desire to belong and the ability to survive.
Walt brings Looee, a baby chimpanzee to Judy. Walt and Judy raised Looee as they would have a child. Eventually Looee’s destruction inside the home prompts Walt to build Looee his own little home attached to Walt and Judy’s. Looee, having been raised as a human child is no longer like other chimps. On one horrific night Looee’s two natures collide and their unique family is forever changed.
The Girdish Institute in Florida has been studying chimpanzees for decades. The studies at Girdish have proven that chimps have memories and the ability to solve problems, they can learn language and need friends, and that they build complex cultures. When Looee is moved to the Institute, he is forced to try to fit into the chimpanzee world.
While A Beautiful Truth is an extremely heartfelt and touching story, I had a hard time with all of the “money business” throughout the story. The book goes back and forth between Walt, Judy and Looee and chimps at Girdish. The portions of the book taking place at Girdish gets extremely drawn out and detailed about the chimps and the testing, etc. being performed on them. It was all a bit drawn out for me.
Nicole L. Wright is an avid reader and lover of books who enjoys sharing reviews with fellow book lovers.
The Silvered by Huff
In an alternate reality set in medieval times, there exists the kingdom of Aydori. Ruled by werewolves and mages, Aydori finds itself under attack by the Empire, a sprawling kingdom that wages war with the new and terrible powers of science. With the majority of the Aydori soldiers fighting on the front lines, the rest of the small kingdom is forced to flee to high ground. But a sneak attack by the Empire manages to capture five of Aydori’s most powerful mages.
The Silvered
by Tanya Huff
DAW
November 2012
With a prophecy foretelling the Empire and its king as the ultimate ruler of the land, and a holy war declared against the werewolves and mages, it falls to Mirian Maylin, a young girl who barely qualifies as a mage, and Tomas Hagen, a werewolf with no family left, to defy the Empire, rescue the captured mages, and see to it that the prophecy doesn’t come down on the side of the Empire.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Tanya Huff’s work, and this story certainly didn’t disappoint. And while the backdrop of a land ruled by magic fighting against the emerging power of science is not wholly original, Huff’s style of writing and character development puts a unique spin on the entire setup.
With that said, this book can be extremely complex. The number of characters, their relationships, importance, and rank can leave the reader juggling quite a bit of information early on. I actually had to reread the entire first chapter and make it a point to commit to memory exactly who was who.
It also bears mentioning that this is a book for more mature readers, in that it depicts quite a bit of bloodshed and death. The ravages of war leave no one untouched, and nearly every character loses a loved one on the battlefield.
Of course, like so many stories of its kind, the central focus is on a boy and girl and the feelings that develop between them on their journey. However, almost just as much focus is put on the captured mages, who aren’t simply waiting idly in their cells to be rescued. Huff also shies away from storybook endings where all the characters live happily ever after, and there are several moments in the story that are truly heartbreaking.
If you’re a fan of magic, werewolves, and good writing, you should definitely read this book.
Matthew Scott is the Dark Fantasy & Horror Editor of BookGateway.com who describes himself as just another average reader who enjoys sharing his opinion on various books, authors, and whatever else may cross his path.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Coldwater by Goulda
I have just recently gotten into more mystery/thriller type books and just finished reading Coldwater: A Novel by Diana Gould. Gould spent years writing for television, with Coldwater being her first novel.
Coldwater: A Novel
By Diana Goulda
Gibraltar Road
January 2013
Brett wakes up from her most recent alcohol induced blackout wondering where she is today. These blackouts now occur to Brett on a regular basis. One late night, on a drug run Brett hits something on a dark and winding road. It was just an animal right? Brett rose to fame as a writer for a popular police drama on television and blew it all with drugs and alcohol, losing her career, her boyfriend Jonathon and most importantly Jonathon’s daughter Julia.
Years later when Julia’s best friend goes missing, Julia finds Brett and wants Brett to help her find her friend. Can Brett get her life back together to help Julia? Brett is going to have to help Julia in more ways than one because Julia is next to go missing.
While I thought that the character development was lacking a bit beyond the main character Brett, it was a good read. I was constantly wondering “who dunnit?” and constantly second guessing characters throughout the story. Coldwater held my interest from start to finish and was good. I would pass it on and recommend it.
Nicole L. Wright is an avid reader and lover of books who enjoys sharing reviews with fellow book lovers.
Prepare to Die by Tobin
Steve Clarke is a superhero known as Reaver. His punches can literally cause a person to lose years off their life, he is three times faster than the average human, very strong, and can heal from pretty much anything. He also has exactly two weeks to live.
Prepare to Die!
by Paul Tobin
Night Shade Books
June 2012
After being cornered by a group of super villains known as Eleventh Hour, Steve Clarke is told, “Prepare to Die!” Taking the words quite literally, Steve manages to get a two week reprieve to tie up loose ends and get his life in order.
What follows is a trip down memory lane as Steve returns to his home town and seeks out a girl he fell in love with as a teenager. While the majority of the story takes place during the two week period that Steve has left, we are often treated to a series of flash backs involving various other characters, Steve’s origin story, and life for Steve before he became a superhero.
Now I’m going to stop here and tell you that I’m not a huge fan of comic books, and I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into when I initially started reading. Quite a bit of the story involving characters getting their powers requires some pretty heavy suspension of belief. (For instance, I’m fairly certain most people exposed to massive amounts of radiation would die, not get super powers.)
But while the characters are straight out of comic books, the story itself could probably never be told in such rich detail as it is presented here. Even more, there is an almost seamless transition of focus from magic and super powers to the story of how a man who lost friends and loved ones grieved for their passing.
Honestly, the depths of the story and it’s various twists and turns left me pleasantly surprised, if not equally saddened in some of the darker moments. The subject matter may be fantasy, but there are very few happy endings in this book. A lot of the characters are lost to us before the book even begins, and there is a definite sense of loneliness at the realization that these larger than life characters are fading and dying out.
Still, the story is beautifully told, filled with just enough action to stay true to its comic book roots, while still presenting very real, emotional characters.
Regardless of whether or not you’re a comic book fan, you should definitely check out this book.
Matthew Scott is the Dark Fantasy & Horror Editor of BookGateway.com who describes himself as just another average reader who enjoys sharing his opinion on various books, authors, and whatever else may cross his path.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Walking Ghost Phase by Daugherty
Emily Heath and her friends decide to spend their summer vacation in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, the trip becomes boring fast and Emily quickly begins to regret her decision of choosing D.C. over the beach. As she contemplates her poor choice in vacation spots, a nuclear bomb is detonated in the city, and Emily receives a lethal dose of radiation poisoning.
Walking Ghost Phase
by DC Daugherty
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
December 15, 2011
Emily is now left with a bitter choice. She can suffer for three months as she slowly dies, or take part in an experimental government treatment that will save her life. The treatment comes at a high cost, however. A major side-effect is partial memory loss, and after a three month reprieve, she will be forced into an experimental army training camp.
If she can last at the camp for six months, she can have her life back. Unfortunately, no one ever survives that long.
While I would classify this story as science fiction, a major part of the story takes place in a mundane and relatively modern setting. The science fiction elements are used mainly as a backdrop to the interpersonal relationships between the four main characters. At its heart, this is really a story about how different people react and deal with stress, and while we see the characters grow and mature, we also see them break down and suffer.
However, there are no roller coasters of emotion. The rise and fall is steady and gradual. And while this makes for a slower pace and less dramatic scenes, it does well to put the reader in the same state of mind as the characters. It’s easy to empathize with both their despair and elation.
My one complaint for the book as a whole is the ending. Of course, I won’t give anything away here, but the ending to the book left me unsatisfied. There is a lot of information thrown at you in those last few pages and some loose ends and questions that never seem to get answered.
In fact, the end was the one area of the book where I felt rushed. I found myself having to read and reread paragraphs at a time in an effort to understand what was being said, and even after finishing the book, I still felt unsure and a bit confused.
That said, I still greatly enjoyed the book and encourage readers to reach their own conclusions as far as the ending is concerned.
Matthew Scott is the Dark Fantasy & Horror Editor of BookGateway.com who describes himself as just another average reader who enjoys sharing his opinion on various books, authors, and whatever else may cross his path.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Storyteller by Picoult
I have been a huge fan of Jodi Picoult’s for years. I recently finished reading her newest book and I must say I think this has to be one of, if not the best book Picoult has written so far!
The Storyteller
By Jodi Picoult
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
February 2013
The Storyteller spans over 70 years and intertwines the lives of many. When Sage Singer befriends the town’s favorite retired teacher and beloved little league coach Josef Weber, she is shocked when he asks her to do him a favor. Josef Weber asks Sage to kill him. Weber believes he deserves to die and Sage wants to know why. Can you forgive the unthinkable?
Picoult takes us on a journey through unimaginable events in history sharing with us not only what Sage Singer learns about Josef Weber but what her family was put through decades earlier. The emotions you feel throughout this book varies from one minute feeling angry at a character and the next you are devastated and shocked.
This story held my interest from start to finish. The twists and turns and the telling of the story were so intriguing I could not put the book down. I couldn’t put the book down! I can’t recommend it more highly!
Nicole L. Wright is an avid reader and lover of books who enjoys sharing reviews with fellow book lovers.
Tempestuous by Askew and Helmes
Popularity is conditional. We’ve all seen them fall. Miranda Prospero, is one of those fallen.
Tempestuous
A Twisted Lit Novel
By Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Merit Press
January 2013
After her social life’s tragic demise, former “IT” girl Miranda is left working the “Hot Dog Cabob” with her new dweeby coworker: Ariel. During yet another awful shift at the food court of the local mall, a ginormuous snow storm sweeps in, trapping everyone in the mall overnight. To make matters even better, they’re trapped in with a thief who has broken in though the computer store! Miranda is left with a quiet and sarcastic loner named Caleb all night- literally. The two are handcuffed together. Again making things worse: the “IT” crowd, that used to practically worship Miranda, is locked in with them. This is going to be a loongg night…
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and had a great time romping around the mall with these unforgettable characters. One thing parents may be concerned about are the usage of curse words. For instance, the “s-word” frequently and an example “her hellish s___s” are used in the book. Other than that the book is wonderful.
Unlike in Exposure, another twisted lit novel (see my review of it here) I have not read the Shakespeare play that this novel is based off of. I plan on reading The Tempest soon though, so that I can find all the little allusions and similarities that are sure to be there, like they were in Exposure.
I would recommend this book to middle schoolers and up to read, based on individual maturity and parent’s discretion. This book was wonderful to read and I hope to be seeing many more twisted Lit novels published In the future.
Arieltopia, Young Adult Editor, is an 12 year old avid reader – usually going through a book a day – who gives readers a unique perspective on Young Adult, Teen Fiction, along with adult fiction: an actual teenager’s perspective.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Exposure by Askew and Helmes
Skye Kingston, a shy girl who hides behind her camera more often than not, is a typical teen novel protagonist. She’s gorgeous, but doesn’t know it. She’s terrified by the high school “royalty”, and even has the common crush on the hot, jock, Craig. Everything seems like the happy, mundane usual high school life for Skye, until a boy named Duncan dies at a party.
Exposure
A Twisted Lit Novel
By Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Merit Press
January 2013
During a game of flashlight tag in the woods, he goes missing, and the police find his body the next day- with signs of foul play. After Skye overhears a suspicious conversation between Beth, Craig’s crazy girlfriend, and Craig, her whole world is turned upside down.
This book is a modern retake on Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. As one of the few youth who have read Macbeth, I found this book hilarious. Small hints and allusions to Macbeth made this heart-stopping mystery even more enjoyable. Such cleverly placed similarities include: Craig Mackenzie, called “Mac” by his team mates, to Macbeth himself. There are obviously many others, but part of the fun of reading this book is finding the allusions and comparisons. This book does include cussing. EX: the “S-word” appears very frequently (at least once per chapter, and that’s being conservative). Taking that into mind I’d recommend this book to teens, depending on maturity levels of the individual, maybe sophomores and up for most parents. However, considering g the fact that worse conduct in books has been discussed and read by my peers, 8th grade or 7th grade may be more feasible. Again, parent’s discretion.
I also would highly recommend reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth before reading this so you can find those hidden laughs throughout the story. If it seems too “old timey” or “lame” then read this first, and then the play. You’ll want to after you read Exposure.
Arieltopia, Young Adult Editor, is an 12 year old avid reader – usually going through a book a day – who gives readers a unique perspective on Young Adult, Teen Fiction, along with adult fiction: an actual teenager’s perspective.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Sketchy Behavior by Mangum
This is a story about a young sixteen-year-old girl named Kate Carter whom spends most of her free time sketching those around her. When asked to sketch someone in her art class by having a description read to her, she unknowingly sketches a wanted murderer and is what causes authorities to be able to bring him in.
Sketchy Behavior
by Erynn Mangum
Zondervan
August 2011
Afterwards her once normal life is turned upside down. She is now followed around by two police men and the detective that came and read the descriptions. Now Kate is a celebrity, and hiding from any of the murderer John X’s friends. Who would have thought a simple project in art class could cause so much trouble, and assassination attempts?
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a mysterious fun-filled read. Kate’s spunk and sarcasm will leave readers smiling, and her friends’ and parents’ dramatic antics will make you appreciate your more than likely less dramatic parents a little bit more. (It did for me anyway) Teens and young adults alike will enjoy this book and all of its unexpected twists and turns. I enjoyed this book a lot and hope that any other readers do also.
Arieltopia, Young Adult Editor, is an 12 year old avid reader – usually going through a book a day – who gives readers a unique perspective on Young Adult, Teen Fiction, along with adult fiction: an actual teenager’s perspective.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
