Skip to main content

#HistFicThursdays - A Significant Day For A Significant Age

I don't write many older characters. I suppose age - as with most things - is relative in fiction. When I began writing The Watcher's Heir  (my will-be-finished-one-day high fantasy epic), I was still at school and my hero began the story aged 25, an age I could not imagine ever reaching but an age I thought would still be considered young by many. If I ever manage to finish and edit that story, I'll be extending his - and a few others' - age! Having grown older, I've realised the advantages and the benefits of age. Of course, it's a bit of a disappointment that I'm never asked for ID in the shop anymore, or that people assume I'm my younger sisters' mother(!). But, on the whole, the pros have far outweighed the cons. The biggest con in terms of writing, is that it's difficult not to put an old head on young shoulders. Looking through books - both my own and those written by other people - it is clear just how easy it is to slip into the "ol...

"Aaru" by David Meredith Book Review

"Aaru" by David Meredith

4 stars (very good!)



When Rose dies, her younger sister (Koren) is angry and upset. Actually, that's an understatement. It's angry/upset on steroids! Some authors shy away from dealing with bereavement but David Meredith couldn't do this as "Aaru" wouldn't exist if there was no 'death'. It's such a tricky thing to portray fierce emotions in an imaginary character. It can be draining on both the author and the reader. But I have to say that David Meredith NAILS IT! The emotions are so raw, so real. I would be surprised if the author has never had a close bereavement. The reader really feels Koren's pain.

That's not to say I sympathised with her. Alongside the emotions was a large amount of teenage angst. (What can I expect - she's 13 and 1/2 years old!) I can't say I actually liked her personality. I didn't like her attitude towards her parents. I found it chokingly inconsiderate - after all, they were grieving too. But the (major) flaws in her personality make the character 3D. Real. As I'm always explaining to our first published author - Virginia Crow - when I dislike a character, it doesn't mean it's a bad story. Quite the opposite! Any story that can encourage deep feelings in a reader is a credit to the author.

Having said that, I certainly felt more than sorry for her in the last half of the book. I won't say much about what happens as I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the book took a very unexpected, very dark turn about half way through. Suddenly, paparazzi and teenage angst aren't the worst of Koren's worries. I found parts of this disturbing, as I think you're meant to, but I couldn't put the book down. I needed to see that everything would be resolved.

As I'm sure you've gathered, I was very impressed by this book. There were just a couple of things to mention, as I do with every book I post about. There were a few mistakes, small things like speech marks missing, and the formatting of one of the chapter headings. This makes no difference, of course, to the quality of the story, but with a book this good, I feel it deserves extra-extra proof-reading. I know when you put a book on a kindle, the formatting sometimes goes awry. This is annoying after you've put so much effort into writing/redrafting/editing/proof-reading.

Also, there were parts in the book when I wasn't as engaged. I think this is more down to me than the author, however. When Rose and friends were playing a game of football (or is it soccer?) I switched off a bit. My sister would probably have really enjoyed this as she's a football fan. A teenager (the book's desired audience) would have enjoyed it because of the teenage friendship dynamics among the group.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and really admired how the author understood teenagers and the emotions that run so near the surface! The writing style is excellent - readable, intelligent and unique.

You can find "Aaru" here. Available on Kindle Unlimited.


Blurb


"…Death and the stillness of death are the only things certain and common to all in this future…"
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Rose is dying. Her body is wasted and skeletal. She is too sick and weak to move. Every day is an agony and her only hope is that death will find her swiftly before the pain grows too great to bear.

She is sixteen years old.

Rose has made peace with her fate, but her younger sister, Koren, certainly has not. Though all hope appears lost Koren convinces Rose to make one final attempt at saving her life after a mysterious man in a white lab coat approaches their family about an unorthodox and experimental procedure. A copy of Rose’s radiant mind is uploaded to a massive super computer called Aaru – a virtual paradise where the great and the righteous might live forever in an arcadian world free from pain, illness, and death. Elysian Industries is set to begin offering the service to those who can afford it and hires Koren to be their spokes-model.

Within a matter of weeks, the sisters’ faces are nationally ubiquitous, but they soon discover that neither celebrity nor immortality is as utopian as they think. Not everyone is pleased with the idea of life everlasting for sale.
What unfolds is a whirlwind of controversy, sabotage, obsession, and danger. Rose and Koren must struggle to find meaning in their chaotic new lives and at the same time hold true to each other as Aaru challenges all they ever knew about life, love, and death and everything they thought they really believed.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Masterworks: Legacy - Samantha Wilcoxson - Interview

  Today is the last of a series on nine interviews I'm sharing on the Crowvus Book Blog. These are from the authors of the short stories included in the  Masterworks  anthology by the  Historical Writers Forum . We're running through chronologically, some are video interviews, others are written. I am delighted to welcome the fantastic Samantha Wilcoxson, who is sharing the artist inspiration for her short story Legacy , as well as the appeal of James A. Hamilton, and the delights of researching. First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself, what you write (besides Masterworks!), and what inspired you to begin writing. I was inspired to write by my love of reading. After watching me read, write reviews, and keep journals for twenty years, my husband asked me why I didn’t try writing, so I did! Without really planning on it, I ended up writing historical biographical fiction. I’m drawn to a tragic tale but also to lesser known historical figures with emotive stor...

#HistFicThursdays - Apollo's Raven - Linnea Tanner - Book Blast

 If you've been following this blog for a little while, you might remember me sharing a fabulous guest post about this book in 2022 (which you can read here ). It's always great to welcome Linnea Tanner onto the Crowvus Book Blog, and I'm delighted to be taking part in her Coffee Pot Book Club book blast blog tour. So, let's meet the book... A Celtic warrior princess is torn between her forbidden love for the enemy and duty to her people. AWARD-WINNING APOLLO’S RAVEN sweeps you into an epic Celtic tale of forbidden love, mythological adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. In 24 AD British kings hand-picked by Rome to rule are fighting each other for power. King Amren’s former queen, a powerful Druid, has cast a curse that Blood Wolf and the Raven will rise and destroy him. The king’s daughter, Catrin, learns to her dismay that she is the Raven and her banished half-brother is Blood Wolf. Trained as a warrior, Catrin must find a way to break t...

#HistFicThursdays - Strait Lace by Rosemary Hayward - Guest Post

For this week's #HistFicThursdays blog, I'm delighted to be welcoming  Rosemary Hayward  to the blog with a guest post about her new release  Strait Lace ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour. Read on to discover the history surrounding this fabulous book. But first, let's meet the book... Blurb It is 1905. Edwardian England. Harriet Loxley, the daughter of a vicar and niece to a prominent Nottingham lace manufacturer, spends her days playing cricket with her brother, scouring the countryside for botanical specimens, and never missing an opportunity to argue the case for political power for women. Given the chance to visit the House of Commons, Harriet witnesses the failure of a historic bill for women’s voting rights. She also meets the formidable Pankhurst women. When Harriet gets the chance to study biology at Bedford College, London, she finds her opportunity to be at the heart of the fight. From marching in the street, to speaking to hostile c...