And so begins my experiment with the Gratitude Community and the 1000 Gifts list. This is a list of graces I already have, not a list of stuff I want.
Nov. 30
#6-Lit Christmas tree on a rainy day
#7-my bread machine
#8-unexpected notes from unexpected places
#9-Yellowstone–joyful ground
#10-Wild columbine
Joyful ground
Nov. 29
#1-sunny November day
#2-a husband supportive of my writing dreams
#3-friends that take me as I am
#4-baking bread
#5-imagination
Courtesy of Bethany House Publishers
The August tour of the CSFF features Offworld, by talented author Robin Parrish. Robin is the author of the Dominion trilogy: Relentless, Fearless, and Merciless. If you haven’t read the trilogy, then you’re missing out on a fantastic story! Robin continues his talented storytelling in his newest book, Offworld.
Review:
“To see what’s past what we can see from here,” says the astronaut Terry Kessler to the mysterious, silver eyed girl, Mae. That is what Terry and his fellow explorers have been doing for the past several years–going where no astronaut has gone before and that was to Mars. While the mission itself was pretty much flawless, except for Commander Christopher Burke, re-entry was not.
As they approach home on their spaceship, Ares, they loose all contact with Kennedy Space Center. Efforts to reach anyone else–at the space station, at Houston, are futile. Assuming the issue is with their ship, they proceed through re-entry procedures. Earth and the stars vanish, swallowed up by blackness. As the crew tries to wrap their minds around this nasty surprise, their ship loses power, then begins to shake apart as it’s subjected to stresses it was never built to withstand. They tumble through the darkness, unsure of where they are. Briefly the darkness clears, but descends again as an impact knocks them all unconscious.
Commander Christopher Burke is the first to regain consciousness and this time what he’s experienced hasn’t been one of the mysterious blackouts that has plagued him much of the mission. The blackouts began after he’d gotten lost on Mars for eighteen hours, according to his crew. He can’t reconcile their account with his own; his oxygen would’ve run out long before eighteen hours. Yet here he is, still alive and caught up into another nightmare scenerio. A crash landing, from what the crew can tell, at Kennedy Space Center. A scenario which should have had people swarming around the site.
But as the crew emerges from the remains of the Ares, they only thing that greets them is silence. There isn’t a soul in sight. Kennedy is deserted, and as they soon discover from surveillance tapes, everyone has vanished. There one second and gone the next. From what they can tell, they have been left behind–everyone else taken to destinations unknown. Except for one. As the crew leaves for Houston–drawn by a powerful light that shouldn’t be there but is–they almost literally run into one other person on the car-strewn freeway. Her name is Mae, a girl as she says “fell through the cracks” and has lived her life on the streets, unnoticed by people around her.
But are they really alone? As they make their way to their destination–Houston and the light that draws them like moths to flame–unexplained phenomena appear, threatening their journey and their lives. But just as unexplainable are they avenues of escape that play out along the way. Compelled to find answers increases the likelihood they will become join the missing ones.
But this just isn’t a story about astronauts coming home to a world gone horribly wrong. It’s a story about a community of people that have had no one but themselves for months–yet they don’t really know one another all that well. First Officer Trisha Merriday and Owen Beecham, mission specialist have managed to keep secrets of their own–secrets that could compromise all their mission. Terry’s secret is actually wide open, but his crewmates never really pick up on it–his fear of being alone. Commander Burke has a past that haunts him, but keeps his past to himself. When Mae joins the group, she’s the sticky gear in a well-oiled machine, a homeless child with no special talents–a burden to be tolerated. Much is not what is seems.
It is also a story of “to see what’s past what we can see from here” run amuck. Science pushing forward because it can. Science pushing forward without fear of consequences, over-confident in it’s ability to control and understand whatever it is it discovers.
Visit other blog tour participants and see what they have to say:
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Gina Burgess
Canadianladybug
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen (posting later in the week)
Nissa
John W. Otte
Lyn Perry
Steve Rice
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Stephanie
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Elizabeth Williams
