This Way to the End Times

This Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse edited by Robert Silverberg
Three Rooms Press: 10/17/16

eBook review copy; 468 pages
ISBN-13: 9781941110485

This Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse edited by Robert Silverberg is a very highly recommended anthology of 21 wildly diverse apocalyptic stories. Don't miss this collection!

This collection covers the gamut from early, classic writers to recent contemporary authors. The end comes in incredible variety of ways, including the expected fire and ice scenarios, to willful extinction in many forms, to natural disasters, to "visitors" from beyond and more. The stories selected are all well written, most of them are exceptionally well written. Silverberg did a wonderful job in his selection of stories to include in this anthology. He opens the book with an introduction to the collection, where he points out: "Since apocalyptic visions are nearly universal in the religious literature of the world, and probably always have been, it’s not surprising that they should figure largely in the fantasies of imaginative storytellers." Then, before each story, he has an interesting and informative shorter introduction to the specific author and story.

There are many stories in this collection that I loved, but, incredibly, didn't have even one that I disliked. I'm giving credit to the care in which they were chosen as well as the talent of all the writers included. This is a great collection of superb stories!

Contents include:
INTRODUCTION by Robert Silverberg
THE ETERNAL ADAM by Jules Verne
THE LAST GENERATION by James Elroy Flecker
FINIS by Frank Lillie Pollock
THE COMING OF THE ICE by G. Peyton Wertenbaker
N DAY by Philip Latham
GUYAL OF SFERE by Jack Vance
A PAIL OF AIR by Fritz Leiber
WHO CAN REPLACE A MAN by Brian W. Aldiss
HERESIES OF THE HUGE GOD by Brian W. Aldiss
THE NEW ATLANTIS by Ursula K. Le Guin
WHEN WE WENT TO SEE THE END OF THE WORLD by Robert Silverberg
THE WIND AND THE RAIN by Robert Silverberg
THE SCREWFLY SOLUTION by James Tiptree, Jr.
AFTER-IMAGES by Malcolm Edwards
DAISY, IN THE SUN by Connie Willis
THREE DAYS AFTER by Karen Haber
THE RAIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Dale Bailey
THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT by Dale Bailey
FINAL EXAM by Megan Artenberg
PRAYERS TO THE SUN by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
LAST AND FIRST MEN by Olaf Stapledon

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

The Best Is Yet to Come

The Best Is Yet to Come by Anne Bryan Smollin

Ave Maria Press: 10/10/16
eBook review copy; 192 pages
ISBN-13: 9781933495965

The Best Is Yet to Come: Living Fully in Each Moment by Anne Bryan Smollin, Patricia A. St. John C.S.J. is a highly recommended book that is sure to encourage and inspire anyone who reads it. 

This is the final book written by Sr. Anne Bryan Smollin (1943-2014) and finished for her by Sr. Patricia St. John, C.S.J. Sr. Anne's gift for telling humorous stories while bringing the point home is clearly shown in the brief inspirational chapters. You may have read several of the stories she shares already, but read them once again and allow the final message to sink in. There are also several personal anecdotes that lead to lessons. The end result of  The Best Is Yet to Come, is a positive, uplifting book with a helpful, loving message. Parts are perhaps more applicable if you are Catholic, but most of this wonderful little book will have a broad, wide ranging appeal.

There are some terrific quotes:

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord,” and those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, it’s morning!” How we wake up each day and how we spend our precious 86,400 seconds is our choice.

We have the power as well as the possibility to increase our level of happiness and joy. Studies indicate that everyday activities such as gardening, listening to relaxing music, stroking a pet, smiling, singing, and enjoying a hug will increase our happiness level.

Laughter is a metaphor for the entire range of positive emotions: hope, love, faith, cheerfulness, humor, creativity, playfulness, and confidence. How rich is one who has a laughing buddy!

We cannot allow our fears to define us. If we do, we may never know what is possible. “Never be afraid to try something new."

I believe in miracles; I believe in the sacred events that unfold in our lives every day. We just don’t always recognize them because they are not packaged the way we would like them to be. Or they are not exactly what we are looking for.

What we look for we find! If we look for joy, peace, and happiness we will find them. If we look for disappointment, anger, or distrust we will find it.

We need to believe and trust. Prayer is always answered. Sometimes it is not the response we are looking or asking for, but it is always answered.

We have to do our part. We need to be responsible, proactive people. Wishing for things doesn’t make them real.

Deal with the stress in your life. If you don’t, it will deal with you. Stress blocks us from seeing the humor in our day. We need to keep things in perspective. Many of life’s daily happenings are beyond our control. Additionally, we have no power over another’s behaviors. Don’t rent space in your head for things like that. People are going to act the way they want to act, not the way you want them to act. You only have control over your own behavior.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

The Terranauts

The Terranauts by T. C. Boyle

HarperCollins: 10/25/16
eBook review copy; 528 pages
ISBN-13: 9780062349408

The Terranauts by T. C. Boyle is a highly recommended fictionalized account of a biodome project in 1994.

In the desert near Tillman Arizona is an Ecosphere, E2. Covering 3 acres, E2 is a sealed self-sufficient prototype of what a biodome on an off-earth colony, a new Eden, would be like. It has five biomes (rainforest, savanna, desert, ocean, and marsh) and enough water, vegetation, and animals to sustain a small colony of 8 adults. Out of sixteen finalists, eight are chosen to be Terranauts. The group chosen for this mission are: Dawn Chapman, Manager of Domestic Animals; Tom Cook, Technosphere Supervisor; Gretchen Frost, Manager of Wilderness Biomes; Diane Kesselring, Supervisor of Field Crops and Crew Captain; Richard Lack, Medical Officer; Ramsay Roothoorp, Communications Officer/Water Systems Manager; Troy Turner, Director of Analytic Systems; Stevie van Donk, Marine Systems Specialist.

E2, or New Eden is the brainchild of Jeremiah Reed. The Terranauts, in keeping with the religious theme, call him G.C. for God the Creator. G.C  views E2 as "both an adventure in scientific discovery and a momentous publicity stunt." G.C. mans mission control with Judy, his assistant and girlfriend. To the Terranauts she is Judas, "because she was a betrayer, or at least that was her potential." Dennis Roper is called Little Jesus and Dennis Iverson is G.F., short for God the Financier.

The Terranauts are sealed off from the world, although they can be viewed by the world through the glass walls. Visitors must come to a designated area and then speak through a phone to the person inside. It is both an ecological experiment on perhaps settling on another planet one day, and a psychological experiment looking at how a group of 4 women and 4 men will engage with each other and if relationships will form. Because the first group, Mission One, failed, this Mission Two group has taken up the anthem, "A pledge is a pledge: nothing in, nothing out."

The novel is presented through three different narrators. They are having an inner monologue, sharing their inner thoughts while telling what is happening in E2, so they are very honest, for good or bad. Two narrators, Dawn Chapman and Ramsay Roothoorp, are Terranauts. Dawn is the positive narrator, the one who truly believes in the project and staying the course to the end. Ramsey is an immature womanizing jerk who can apparently charm whoever he wants into bed, but he can also put a spin on any situation. The third is Linda Ryu, one of the sixteen finalists who was not chosen for Mission two. Linda now works for Mission Control. Linda and Dawn were good friends, but clearly they are more frenemies now. Linda is bitter and scheming.

The Terranauts was based on a real story of people who tried living sealed into a biosphere. Boyle takes their story one step further here and tells the story of the next crew through a two year stay. https://www.wired.com/2016/10/terranauts-tc-boyle-novel/

T. C. Boyle is an amazing writer. I found the quality of the writing to be incredible. Reviews are all over the place on this novel, which surprises me because I was totally engaged in the plot and the characters. Yes, it is a long novel, but I didn't even realize how long until after I was finished. (I just thought I was reading slowly.) Ramsey and Linda are unlikable characters, but the reader is privy to the narrators real thoughts on everything, and not everything that goes through a person's mind is positive or uplifting. On the plus side, this results in the narrators being very well developed characters. I finished The Terranauts and I could picture it really happening, as if Boyle recorded the thoughts of people during a real second mission in 1994.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

This Was Not the Plan

This Was Not the Plan by Cristina Alger

Touchstone: 10/18/16
eBook review copy; 368 pages
paperback ISBN-13: 9781501103766

This Was Not the Plan by Cristina Alger is a recommended novel about discovering what is important in life.

Charlie Goldwyn works long hours trying to make partner at the Manhattan corporate law firm where he works. Charlie is a widow whose 5 year-old son, Caleb, has been watched/raised by his twin sister, Zadie, since the death of his wife, Mira, two years ago. After spending a long 72 hours at work to complete a big case, Charlie just wants to go home, but he has to attend a party for the new associates at the firm. He ends up drinking too much and making a speech that is brutally honest about life at the firm. His drunken speech was being filmed and is put on YouTube, where it goes viral, resulting in Charlie being fired from the firm.

Now that Charlie's free to watch Caleb, Zadie asks to take a little vacation, leaving Charlie totally in charge of his son. What Charlie wants is his job back. Even when Mira was alive, she was the caregiver, not Charlie. Now it's all up to him to become the father his wife wanted him to be, but the one he hasn't been. The forced time off from work will also give him a chance to grieve the loss of his wife. But there are a lot more surprises in store for Charlie as he learns to become the father Caleb deserves.

Even though Charlie loses his job, you know that nothing really bad is going to happen here. Anything really bad has already happened, off the page, and is only discussed now. Charlie is really the only well-developed character while the rest of the characters are more caricatures of a type of person. The narrative alternates between present day actions and Charlie's memories of Mira. The story heads in a predictable, familiar direction, which isn't always bad.

In the final analysis, this is a pleasant, feel-good book. The writing is good. There is some substance to the story even though it's meant to be and written as light escapism. Many reviewers liked this one much more than I did. To be honest, I didn't really like the free spirited character of Mira, which sort of put a damper on my enjoyment.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

Stars at Night

Stars at Night by Paula D'Arcy

Franciscan Media: 10/21/16
eBook review copy; 192 pages
ISBN-13: 9781632530424
www.redbirdfoundation.com/

Stars at Night: When Darkness Unfolds as Light by Paula D'Arcy is a recommended book of meditations and thoughts on loss and transcending the darkness to find light.

Paula D’Arcy was only 27 when a drunk driver killed her husband and young daughter. She survived the accident and so did her unborn child. As D'Arcy was crying out, she discovered "a presence within her that responded to her fearful cries for help. Her anguished heart was met by a great tenderness and wisdom, which she grew to recognize as a transcendent love." This realization helped her find her way out of the darkness into the light.

She feels that we all have dark times, they are a natural part of life, and may need help making our own way through and back to the light. The Stars at Night offers hope.
Paula is a writer, playwright, retreat leader, and conference and seminar speaker. In 2001, she established Red Bird Foundation, which supports the growth and spiritual development of those in need throughout the world, including men and women in prison. The foundation has sponsored two international gatherings of women known as WOMENSPEAK, conferences which honor the woman’s voice as a force of peace and healing for the world.

D'Arcy writes her reflections in a meditative, poetic manner. This didn't quite work for me. I would be reading, appreciating the tone she was setting and then, boom, I was distracted. I kept finding sentences where my attention to the meaning was lost because I was mentally rewriting the sentence so it made more sense or was grammatical correct. This is notable because I am not a writer and have no illusions about that fact. I am, however, a voracious reader who can recognize the quality of the writing.

This was a so-so book for me that I was hoping I would like much more. I went through a dark period where my whole life was changed. This already stressful time was punctuated by overwhelming, profound loss and grief when two close immediate family members died, 1 1/2 months apart. Now, looking back at that time, which hasn't been all that long ago, it was a season of loss where my faith sustained me, held me, and I survived, stronger but changed. While Stars at Night will offer help and hope for people, it was too vague in the sense of where and in whom their hope should lie during those dark times.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.
 

Truevine

Truevine by Beth Macy

Little, Brown and Company: 10/18/16
eBook review copy; 432 pages
ISBN-13: 9780316337540
https://intrepidpapergirl.com/

Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest by Beth Macy is the very highly recommended true story of two African-American brothers who were stolen and shown as circus freaks. Macy summarizes her book as "It's a story about race, greed, and the circus, and I've been chasing it for more than 25 years."

The story of how 9 year old George, and 6 year old Willie Muse were stolen in 1899 right out of the tobacco field where they were working was handed down through the African-American families who lived in Truevine, Virginia, for generations. George and Willie, who were both albinos, were enslaved by a circus side-show manager and forced to be on display as various caricatures over the years. The Muse brothers became a popular top tier sideshow act. At Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey they were known as "Eko and Iko, the Ecuadorian Savages. During various other shows they were billed as cannibals, sheep-headed freaks, even "Ambassadors from Mars."

Their mother may have initially made an agreement for the boys to work at the sideshow, but did not plan to have her boys enslaved by a shifty promoter and never returned home. She spent 28 years trying to get them back and securing pay for their work, which had been uncompensated.

The historical scope of Macy's book is rich in period details and facts. Macy divides her book into four parts. She focuses on the world the boys were born into, the Jim Crow South, and looks at the life in the circus, including  the side show acts/performers and managers, while uncovering the scarce details she could find about the life of the Muse brothers in the circus. Macy clearly admires Harriet Muse, the boy's mother, and her determination to find and secure some kind of compensation for their work. She managed to use the legal system to her advantage during a time when that scarcely seems possible.

Truevine is an extremely well researched, thoughtfully written, historical account that is just as gripping as a thriller. Macy, a reporter, spent years waiting for the Muse family to approve her covering this story. Then she spent more time researching the story of the Muse brothers and the pertinent background information. and the historical context of the times. Her account of the facts and presentation of the historical information is simple fascinating and results in a compelling narrative that is a credit to her skills at research, reporting the facts, and presenting the information in a factual yet compassionate way. 

As is my wont, I was thrilled to see that Truevine includes extensive notes for each chapter and an index.  This is one non-fiction book that should not be missed.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

Beautiful Maids All in a Row

Beautiful Maids All in a Row by Jennifer Harlow

Random House Group: 10/11/16
eBook review copy; 325 pages
ISBN-13: 9780425285855
Iris Ballard series #1

Beautiful Maids All in a Row by Jennifer Harlow is a highly recommended thriller.

Dr. Iris Ballard is just trying to survive day to day now. Two years ago she was working as a profiler for the FBI when she and her husband were attacked in their home by a serial killer she has helped track down. Her husband was killed. Iris survived being cut open but lives daily with flashbacks, phantom pain from her wounds, and guilt. She left the FBI and is teaching at a small college, drinking and mixing it with pills to forget. She rarely gets a full night of sleep from the nightmares.

Iris happens to see her former partner, Luke Hudson, on TV, as part of the investigation to find the serial killer dubbed "The Woodsmen." She also realizes that she knew his latest victim. When Luke shows up at her door asking for help in constructing a psychological profile of the killer, she's not interested, until she sees the case file and reluctantly agrees to help. Iris is up against an intelligent killer who thrives on control and not making mistakes. Can Iris help Luke and the FBI or has she really met her match?

Beautiful Maids All in a Row is a page-turner. The writing is good. The plot moves along with only a few stalls along the way. The serial killer is ruthless and takes pleasure in being cruel and torturing his victims. The descriptions of his actions are vivid and brutal.  Iris is depicted as a real person; she is flawed, damaged, and struggling with her own anger issues and mental health. Luke is less well developed as a character, but Harlow does set up a backstory for the two. This looks like an intriguing start of a new series. Based on this first book, I would certainly pick up the next book featuring Iris Ballard. Yeah, she's damaged physically and emotionally, but she is also tough and determined.

There are several flaws in this novel, but, after I learned that Harlow was 19 when she wrote this years ago, I am choosing to overlook them - even though she has written several books since and could have, perhaps edited some of the questionable material out or added material to keep it realistic in the novel. Specifically I'm questioning the opening addictive behavior of Iris and the abrupt cessation of her addictive pattern. A patch is mentioned for the smoking (not as easy as all that) but what about the drugs and alcohol? The something in the mouth scene was too close to Silence of the Lambs for me. But, moving beyond any qualms, I think Iris has a lot of potential for more investigations.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.