Off the Bookshelf: OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET, by C.S. Lewis

 

Narrated by Geoffrey Howard

Book 1 of the Space Trilogy

I can't remember the last time I read the Space Trilogy. Which is kind of sad. These books need to be revisited regularly. I was able to pick it up in audiobook, and listened to it all the way through in one sitting (except for gas and bathroom breaks) driving to the Realm Makers convention.

Wow. A new experience with an old favorite.

This book was written in the 30s, so all that was "known" about space travel and the conditions on Mars were the province of speculation. The thought put into details and science amazed me, experiencing them anew. Maybe because I now know all the work that goes into world building and creating plausible technology and otherworldly science.

The story? Ransom is a professor of linguistics on a long walking holiday, who ends up being kidnapped, tossed into a spaceship, and taken to the planet Malcandra (Mars) as a "gift" to the beings that rule the planet. Devine and Weston, his kidnappers, believe he will be sacrificed, and they're fine with that. One only cares about profit, the other only cares about scientific advancement. He's very noble about making sacrifices -- as long as he isn't the sacrifice.  They won't be allowed to return to Malcandra unless they bring another member of their race to meet Oyarsa, the benevolent, interdimensional ruler. 

Ransom of course isn't going to lie down and submit to being sacrificed, and he flees -- on an alien world. He meets two of the three races and learns the language and culture, until he is finally brought back to where he should have been before: standing before Oyarsa. Now, however, he is able to communicate, and give Oyarsa what he is most interested in: news of the state of affairs on Thulcandra, the silent planet, Earth. Why is Earth silent? The rebellion and downfall of Earth's Oyarsa, and the exile, cut off from the rest of the heavenly realms.

But as Oyarsa tells him, this is the time of great changes, and the silence may be ending.

Now I really need to pull out my copy of the Space Trilogy and read the other two books. It's been way too long since I read them. Lovely time, revisiting an old favorite.

New Release: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

 "So people are making fun of us now because they're jealous, and because they can't be part of the crew?" Kati said.

"That's a very simplified explanation, but yes. What you girls need to keep in mind is that with all the advantages you have, just growing up on the Defender, with so many smart people helping to teach you, that means you have extra responsibilities. We expect so much more from you. We expect you to be not just smarter, but more grown up, have more self-control and dignity."

"So it was really wrong to yell at those bo'cagi?" Tress said.

E'bett sat up straight and stiff and her eyes widened for a moment. "Where did you learn that word?" She shook her head. "It's Nisandrian, so I know where you heard it. Do you know what it means?" She relaxed when Tress shook her head. "It's a very descriptive word, and very accurate to those men."

"What does it mean?" Jayna asked, and grinned.

"It's a very vulgar word, and one you shouldn't use until you're much older." E'bett's lips quirked up and she looked in all directions. That made the girls laugh, because they couldn't imagine their teacher ever being afraid of someone overhearing her. "Let's just say the word refers to their smell, and the smell comes from their brains, not just their dirty clothes, and implies they don't know how to use a sanitary."

"Eewww!" Kati's face wrinkled up like she would be sick. Then she giggled with the other three girls. 

"I think we've discussed this subject quite enough. Let's enjoy the arboretum and try to learn something during our short visit here, shall we?" E'bett stood up and spread her arms, beckoning for the girls to get up and head down a path through the arboretum.

New Release: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

 

 "I have found in my many years of service to Enlo that people make fun of what they don't understand, or what they fear, or what makes them jealous. Chances are very good if we looked up the records of those two messy, silly men, we would find they either couldn't get into the Fleet, or they wanted to be private contractors for the Fleet or the Academy, and no one would hire them. They are very disappointed, and to make themselves feel better, they make fun of anything connected to the Fleet."

"So they're really stupid and they don't do work good enough to work for the Fleet." Jayna nodded. "That makes sense."

E'bett's lips twitched, hinting that she tried not to smile.

"But why is it bad they call us the nanny ship? It's true, isn't it?" Dafna said. "We have lots of kids on board, and we're getting more with all the new crew. Why is it bad?" 

"It's not bad." E'bett looked each of them in the eyes and nodded each time. "The Defender has one of the best reputations of all the Exploration and Diplomacy ships in the Fleet. We have a long waiting list of scientists and specialists who want to serve on our ship. That's part of why we're getting expansions and upgrades. To make room for new crew. Families in the Fleet want especially to serve on the Defender because the children who have gone on to the Academy have been far ahead of their peers, before they even started Basic. You are learning so much, growing up on the Defender, that will prepare you to serve the Alliance in so many different ways. You should be ready for some jealousy from your classmates, when you go to the Academy."

Off the Bookshelf: QUESTE, by Angie Sage

 

Septimus Heap, Book 4

The repercussions from Septimus Heap being kidnapped at birth continue to trouble him and his family after being reunited with them. The boy who was mistakenly raised by the evil usurper under Septimus' name insists that he is the real Septimus Heap, and he's going to do everything he can to take back his name, and the position as wizard's apprentice, and punish Septimus for "stealing" from him.

So there is the calling of dark, shadowy Things -- too many of them. And releasing the bones of the evil Dom. And irritating several cranky ghosts who are out to cause trouble. Then there's the Queste of the title. Enemies of Septimus and his allies are determined to force him to go on a Queste that apprentices usually take when they finish their studies -- but Septimus has just begun. Plus, thanks to interference from a number of nasty people ... no apprentice has ever returned.

Then there's another quest that Septimus joins -- to find his brother Nicko and his friend Snorri, who are lost in time, and perhaps trapped in a house where all times meet. Princess Jenna and Septimus and his friend Beetle head out through magical pathways, following clues, including a map and notes that were written 500 years before -- by Nicko and Snorri.

The Septimus Heap books are thick -- and did I mention the charming illustrations that make the characters even more real? -- but once you start reading, plan on spending a lot of time wandering the paths of this complex, sometimes quirky, always fun, sometimes dangerous fantasy world of wizards and apprentices, witches and talking rats, ghosts and vendettas and quests. Enjoy the escape!

New Release: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

  

"I'm sorry," she said, as soon as the five of them were in the arboretum and the doors had slid closed behind them.

"You shouldn't be. They were really stupid. And mean," Jayna said. She jammed her fists into her hips and moved back a couple steps. "They shouldn't tell lies about our ship like that!"

"What's a nanny ship?" Kati asked. "My brother was talking with some of his friends and they said other people called us a nanny ship, but he wouldn't tell me what it meant. Is it a bad word?"

"That's not right." Dafna settled down on a bench just inside the doorway of the arboretum. Her little face wrinkled up with deep thought. "I know what a nanny is. It's a person who takes care of little children. So that's not a bad thing, is it?"

"Of course not." E'bett settled down on the bench next to Dafna and gestured for the other three girls to sit with them. "I agree, we could have handled that unpleasant little encounter better. On the other hand, I suppose it's a good learning experience for you, to have encountered those … well, I suppose the kindest label is to call them indiferps." 

She wrinkled up her nose at the girls when all four giggled at her use of the word. E'bett usually didn't use any slang words or mild cusses. She always told them that if they couldn't think of appropriate, civilized words to express their feelings at the moment, then they needed to read and expand their vocabularies. Perhaps the momentary lapse in thinking was a good sign they shouldn't react at all. 

New Release: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

 

 "That's enough," E'bett said. She waved her hands gently, urging the girls to keep moving. "It's always best never to get into arguments with the uninformed." She winked with the eye the men couldn't see. Tress grinned and caught hold of Dafna's hand.

"Uninformed, are we?" The first man laughed, louder this time. "That's what you think. I know what you are. How many teachers have they got on that big fancy ship getting all those repairs? Guess the Defender isn't as great as everybody wants us to believe, if it needs so much fixing."

"It's not getting fixed!" Tress shouted and turned to face them. "My Daddy is the Chief Engineer and the Defender doesn't need fixing. We're getting bigger! We're getting all kinds of new equipment."

"Her daddy. Ain't that cute?" the second man said. His laughter sounded greasy. "What did I tell you? Full of little kids. It's the Nanny Ship, just like everybody's been saying. What good is a ship full of children?"

"Go," E'bett said, in that soft voice that was nearly as frightening as when M'kar got quiet and her eyes looked cold.

Tress shivered, knowing she had messed up. She caught hold of Dafna's hand and the two girls hurried away, with Jayna and Kati right behind them. They tried not to run, but Tress wanted to move fast enough not to hear the laughter and rough voices behind them. She was pretty sure those men were saying all sorts of nasty lies about them and about the Defender, and probably about her father, too. She wanted to punch them. She wished she was allowed to carry a knife like M'kar. She wished her adopted aunt had taught her that really neat fighting move, where she ran and jumped from two meters away. Then she twisted herself around in the air so she wrapped one leg around the man's neck and hit the side of his face with her other knee. With the momentum of flying through the air, she turned him around and knocked him down. And he never got up.

Off the Bookshelf: CITY OF VILLAINS, by Estelle Laure

 

Received through BookBub.

Clever, carefully detailed and thought-out worldbuilding, with so much history and texture -- you'd swear it's a real place that most of the world is making sure you don't hear about ... because the place can be dangerous.

Mary is an orphan with a bad-boy boyfriend, seemingly growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. Only gradually do we learn that she is part of a group who once possessed magic. The portion of the city where she lives is called the Scar, but used to be called Wonder, where magic used to flow and people came to make wishes come true. 

Many of Mary's friends have names reminiscent of Disney characters, specifically the villains. Her boyfriend James has a right-hand man named Smee. Her best friend is named Ursula. Other people were fairytale characters, back when they had magic and could grant wishes.

And now her high school classmates are starting to disappear. Mary is an intern at the police station. Her dream is to become a police officer and bring criminals to justice, just like the current chief of police captured the man who murdered her family. This is Mary's chance to prove herself, and help rescue her missing friends. But the search for truth brings terrifying changes, as she learns that someone is experimenting on and torturing her friends. What will Mary choose, when everything is at stake? Especially when she is close to changing into a fairytale character herself ...

SALE!!! Get the newest YOUNG DEFENDERS novel in ebook or audiobook for 99 cents!

 

From now until the end of the month, you can download the ebook or the audiobook of LISTEN CAREFULLY from the Ye Olde Dragon Books site for only 99 cents!

Click here: https://yeoldedragonbooks.com/homepage/

This link will take you directly to the storefront, with the sale links clearly marked.

Such a deal!!!

New Release: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

 RELEASE DAY!!!!!

"I thought there was a height limit to get into the Fleet," the one with cinnamon-colored skin called, as the girls and E'bett walked past.

"Nah," the other man said. "They want them short so they can get into tight places and make repairs. Fleet engines are breaking down all the time. I bet they put the really little ones on a treadmill to generate power."

"That's stupid!" Dafna said, turning and stopping and jamming her fists into her hips.

"Oh, yeah?" The one with the dirty, curly red hair spat on the deck. "What do you know, shrimp?"

Tress caught her breath, waiting for someone to swoop down on the man and make him clean that up. No one was allowed to spit on the Defender. Not even if they got something disgusting in their mouths during an emergency, or when something really strange happened. Like the time the ship lost its artificial gravity for nearly half an hour and all sorts of bits and pieces and clumps of water and clouds of dust floated through the ship and got in people's faces and mouths.

Nothing happened to the man, but Dafna's face got red.

"I'm not a shrimp! I'm just the size I'm supposed to be!"

Tress and Jayna looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Dafna was always taking teasing for being a good five centimeters shorter than other girls their age.

Upcoming release sample: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

 

"They aren't part of the Alliance yet, are they?" Jayna said.

"No. We consider it a major step forward toward joining, that they are sending merchants out to the rest of the universe. I haven't heard of them sending any students to the Academy, or diplomats to confer with the Alliance Council, but they are allowing trade to take place on the outer orbital station in their solar system."

The rest of the trip to the arboretum was filled with information on the planet O'goal. The genotype and standard features of the people, the style of their clothes, the characteristic dishes, what kind of music they seemed to prefer, and the few exports from their planet.

Tress thought she saw two O'goali men following them down the long corridor to the arboretum on the sunward side of the station. When she looked for them a few minutes later, they were gone. She supposed she thought she saw them because E’bett had been talking about the O'goali.

Two men in what her mother called Wannabe Gleaner-but-cleaner clothes were walking toward their group as they walked down the wide corridor with the arboretum at the end. Gleaners were what her father called the garbage pickers of the universe. They were sloppy, filthy, and loud, and were very happy when they heard about colonies failing or ships that wrecked or crashed. Gleaners went through the universe, breaking into archeological sites and raiding damaged ships and taking everything that survived after a disaster. If a ship was having trouble, the crew was better off waiting twice as long for a rescue ship to respond to their distress signal than to accept help from Gleaners. If they let Gleaners into their ships, they ended up worse off than when they were drifting in space.

These two men approaching E'bett and the four girls looked like their clothes had come from a salvage bin. They didn't look greasy or filthy-dirty. Tress took a tiny testing sniff and didn't smell disgusting things like bad breath and dirty hair and sweaty clothes. She didn't like them, though. They stopped as the girls approached and turned to watch the party of five walk past them. One of them laughed. It was a rough, broken kind of sound. It made Tress shiver a little.

Off the Bookshelf: INTUITIVE EDITING, by Tiffany Yates Martin

 

This is our June book for the Great Lakes Fiction Writers craft book club.

Thanks to whoever first suggested this book. A LOT to learn, new angles that make me rethink how I've been editing for years. This helps me see the process in new ways -- and make me more alert to things that I might have been doing automatically, without thinking about them.

This book approaches the whole editing process in a methodical, step-by-step fashion that takes apart a book and puts each piece under a microscope.

Or, in the author's words, starts with an x-ray ... and goes even more in-depth.

Wow. A little intimidating, a lot to take in and consider. Writing is both an art and a craft. Books like these help us refine our craft. Just because my approach doesn't match the one outlined in this book doesn't mean I'm doing it wrong, because the "art" portion of writing means we have to find what works best for each of us. 

If we're smart, we keep learning and growing and adapting. This is a book I wish I'd read years ago. It crystalizes a lot of practices and principles I know I follow, maybe without thinking about why. But it sure helps to be able to put them into words at long last.

Many thanks to Tiffany Yates Martin.

Upcoming release sample: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

  Tress didn't like that woman, and she was sure she would never go back to that shop, even though she liked the cream and pale green scarf and thought it would be a nice present for her mother's next birthday. She had an allowance, and she got extra spending points when she made good grades. She would just have to buy something else, something better. Somewhere else.

"Describe the woman?" E'bett said, after Tress and Dafna reported the encounter when all of them had met up again.

The five of them were in a lift, going up to another level to explore the arboretum. Fleet botanists were running a long-term experiment, seeing how well plants from different eco-systems and solar systems shared the same soil and air, and to see if merging different flora and fauna would make the plants and animals stronger, or cause a negative reaction.

Tress and Dafna took turns and corrected each other a few times. The woman looked old because of all the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, and the creaky tone of her voice. She was thin and her hair was fuzzy and a weak shade of copper. Her nose was long, with a hook to the side, not downward. Her voice had a buzz that made her words sound like they had just been cut out of a sheet of rusty alloy. E'bett smiled and visibly kept from laughing, when Tress gave that description. Well, she had heard her father use that description, and it certainly fit the woman, didn't it?

Her clothes looked like they were all made out of leather, dyed dark purple and black and dirty amber, and she wore a long, sleeveless vest over everything with pockets down each side, nearly to the floor. E'bett nodded when Dafna described the clothes. 

"Ah, that explains much. That woman is an O'goali. The Alliance contacted their world about ten Standard years ago. They have been very reluctant to make contact with the rest of the universe. At the same time, they constantly complain about all the rules established for when we make contact with another Human world, to avoid contamination and damage to their culture. They don't want much to do with other worlds, yet at the same time they didn't like how slow the Alliance was to make contact and let them know other Human worlds were out there."

Upcoming release sample: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

 

 

"What's wrong with you young ones?" a woman said, as Tress followed Dafna out of a shop that sold long scarves like slices of rainbows and mist.

Both of their identity wristbands had flashed twice, meaning they had five minutes until they had to meet E'bett and the other two girls back at the lift.

"Ma'am?" Dafna said, turning around before she reached the door of the shop.

"Don't you like anything? Or are you looking around to get ready to come back and rob me later?"

"No, Ma'am. Everything is pretty. We're just not allowed to touch."

"Who told you that?" The woman laughed, but it wasn't a nice laugh.

 "Our parents. Our teacher. Our captain." Tress unclasped her hands and reached to take hold of Dafna by her elbow. The other girl flinched a little, then looked over her shoulder, nodded, and continued stepping out of the shop.

"We're very sorry if you're offended, Ma'am," Dafna said.

"So you say. I still think something's wrong with young ones acting like that. That's what's wrong with your whole Fleet, maybe your whole Alliance. No wonder my folk don't want to join you people. You don't let people think for themselves."

"We can think whatever we want," Tress said. "We're just not allowed to touch." 

The woman burst out laughing, but it still wasn't nice laughter. The two girls held hands and ran a few steps, until a light in one of the security scanner strips in the ceiling ahead of them flashed yellow. That was the reminder that people weren't allowed to run. Later, when Tress told her parents over dinner about what happened, her father snorted and muttered something about the woman being partly right, but there were good reasons why there were so many rules on a space station.

Off the Bookshelf: How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps, by Andrew Rowe

 

Audiobook version. A fun romp that parodies and salutes role playing games at the same time.

Our heroine, Yui, doesn't like waiting for the Hero to show up on schedule. Especially since the Demon King isn't following the usual conqueror schedule. Yui sets herself a plan to earn her way up the ladder of levels and skills and magic tools, no matter how boring and frustrating and repetitive some of the steps become. Such as killing silver slimes over and over and over and ... just to earn coin and experience points.

There were a lot of grin-worthy moments even for those who don't play role playing games. Such as when her earnest sword saint companion, Ken, lectures her on all the tools and skills she needs. She's frustrated that the Hero needs to be able to play a harmonica and wear a green tunic. Among other ridiculous rules and requirements. Why? It seems like a waste of time to her. Then there's Ken's frustration when she tries to cheat her way around the requirements. Yui is kind of having fun, and so will the readers. She starts as an ordinary village girl but proves her cleverness and determination and bravery, and points out just what a ridiculous world she lives in without actually saying it. She's too busy working her way up to being the Hero, even though she doesn't consider herself one.

Tongue-in-cheek fun.

Coming Release: LISTEN CAREFULLY. Young Defenders Book 2: Tress's Story

Listen Carefully

 

Tress Lore, daughter of the chief engineer and chief linguist, was born on the Defender. Only nine years old, her life is about to change.

 

While exploring the space station where their ship is undergoing upgrades, she overhears people saying things that frighten her. Threats against her friends, and even the ship. But when she tells the adults, nobody else has heard what she heard. Tress is confused. What is wrong with everybody?

 

When she hears Lt. M’kar wishing to play a nasty trick on some people who are giving her trouble, Tress breaks some rules to try to help. When she is caught, the captain and her parents begin to understand what is happening to her. She isn't hearing people's voices, but their thoughts.

 

As she starts training to use her new Talent properly, Tress starts to understand what her parents have been teaching her: Enlo gives gifts for a reason. And the reason for her Talent appearing far too soon may already have arrived.

RELEASING JULY 15 IN PAPER, EBOOK, AND AUDIO.

From Ye Olde Dragon Books