Monday, September 24, 2012

Book Review: Amped

Book review of the science fiction novel Ampred written by Daniel H. Wilson.


Let me start of this review by saying that I cannot wait until this book is turned into a movie, I can see it now. It has the components to be a blockbuster hit or at least a cult classic for us science fiction geeks.

This science fiction novel centers around the main character, Owen Grey, and the Neural Autofocus MK-4 which can turn a normal guy into a genius to rival Einstein, or make a skinny person into Bruce Lee. Owen begins his day having to watch one of his students, who is by the way an amp like him, jump from the roof and kill herself. 

She saw what was coming, Owen did not. 

The rest of the day could be classified as one from hell. He was evicted from his apartment next since Amps no longer have any rights. Next, Owen loses his dad, but not before it is revealed that the neural implant inside of Owen’s head is special. Owen is what’s called a Zenith, a special amp. Keeping the suspense tight, Owen is also thrown into the most wanted list along with a special team of military amps, the first set of amps to ever exist and now Owen is labeled as a terrorist. The US is primed with fear to a fever pitch and regular humans are just waiting for a stray spark to light the ensuing inferno. Before that happens Owen hikes west to find Jim and discover what is held within his head.

Jim Howard lives in the Eden trailer park in Eastern Oklahoma. This is the man that takes in Owen and tells him more about the device in his head. This sets up an internal struggle with Owen and if/when he will turn on the Zenith. Owen tries to deny the power that is locked away within his skull but ultimately has no choice but to go ‘Whole Hog’ and give in to the incessant urging by the other amp and captian of the Zeniths, Lyle Crosby. 

Owens nemesis, Joe Vaughn is a ‘pure priders’ who is in charge of an organization of regular humans that basically discriminate and hate against the amps. With the rest of America either joining the side of hating the amps or supporting the amps, the lines are being drawn to decide which position is right, that of the pure priders or the fact that the amps are human beings and deserve rights.

Amped is a pager turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next. When Owen activates his Zenith and becomes what he is meant to be the action scenes are great and Dan Wilson does an excellent job of making you care about what happens to all of the characters. You cannot help buy sympathize with the amps living together in trailer parks with flood lights being shinned in on them every night. As Owen finds out from Lyle, the amps in Lyle’s gang do not plan on going quietly into the night and letting the regular humans subjugate the amps. Or is nothing as it seems to Owen. Is his budding relationship with Lyle’s twin sister Lucy, real or staged. Is someone actually hunting down and killing the remaining Zenith’s or is Owen being played for a fool. Not only that but how many people must Owen lose before he stands up and does what needs to be done in order to protect the amps. When the newspapers highlight that the amps have attacked, is the entire US being taken for a fool. Can Owen stop the regular humans from crushing the amps who are confined in camps across the country? Is Joe Vaughn even the true leader of his group of pure priders? 

All of the answer are within Amped, a sizzling, sensational, sci fi surprise for everyone if you like a bit of fantasy, action, suspense, love, and deep characters. I give this book four out of five stars. 

~ Andre Alan

Monday, September 17, 2012

Character Interview: Autumn Augustus




Character Interview: Autumn Augustus of Heaven’s Fate

Today I’m pleased to be interviewing Autumn Augustus, a character from Andre Alan’s epic adventure, Heaven’s Fate.
A little about the novel:  
Thame Elliot, an expert Rietsu martial artist, is consumed with thoughts of avenging his father’s death and rebuilding the legendary Tundra Sword. Little does Thame know that his aunt, the first empress of the human continent, Eioda, Autumn Augustus, has set the nation on a course that can only lead to war with the Orcs. The mystical inhabitants on the planet, Threa have been plunged into a struggle for the ancient artifacts buried in the mysterious, Consummate of the Trust. Not only that but his aunt is hell bent on marrying him to a corrupt military admirals daughter while Thame’s spiritual guardian, Masaya from the Astral Plane tries to manipulate him in order to keep the heavens from falling apart. The fate of mankind rest in Thame’s young hands but does he even want the responsibility that goes along with being the chosen one? Or will Thame’s spiritual twin, imbued with dark powers granted by the evil one, assassinate him before he can fulfill his destiny?
Without further ado, I’m happy to present Autumn Augustus!
Gwen:  Tell us a little about yourself, Autumn.   Where have you come from?  What do you want out of life?
Autumn: As you wish, my name is Autumn Clementine Augustus. I am from Las Anglas, Eioda where I served as Rear Admiral of the Western Fleet before joining Parliament.
What I want is tough to answer since my job for so long has been to take orders. Now as empress, I seem to take orders from the Eioda people. But what I wish for is simple, for my people to prosper and for my family to be happy and healthy.
Gwen:  The novel opens with talk of your brother Alexander being a traitor.  What’s the real story there?
Autumn: Alex was a hero, a patriot, a one of a kind leader. He was betrayed, plain and simple. That day was like a living nightmare. I blame myself though. If I would have done more than he could still be here with his son, Thame.
Gwen:  Your nephew, Thame, refuses your offers of help.  What do you think motivates him?
Autumn: Revenge motivates him. A white hot hatred over losing his parents at such a young age. I believe that he is also angry at himself for not being able to help more I think, but he was so young.
Gwen:  How do you feel about Thame’s behavior?
Autumn: Well I don’t think there is anything too extreme about his behavior. Sure, he can be a bit snarky at times, some may say that he is a little selfish, and a bit of a jerk but he truly does mean well. I blame myself for spoiling him growing up.
Gwen:  If you could change anything about your current situation, what would it be?
Autumn: If I wanted more time, then I would wish to be born in a different age but if I could change one thing, it would be fate. If I could change anything, it would be to have Alex alive. I would change the fact that the Tales of Arcadia have come to incorporate everyone that I care about.
Gwen:  What do you think lies ahead for Thame?
Autumn:  I think that Thame will accomplish all of his hopes and dreams. I think it will be a rough road ahead, full of bumps, ups and downs but overall a great career and a long, happy life.
To check out this novel (and hear more of the characters’ stories), visit Heaven’s Fate at Amazon.
You can find out more about Andre Alan, the author of Heaven’s Fate, at one of these places:
Twitter: @AndreAlanAuthor




This post originally appeared here: http://gwenperkins.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/character-interview-autumn-augustus-of-heavens-fate/

Saturday, September 15, 2012

First Author Interview


Christine Rice interviews Andre Alan. 
New sci fi, fantasy book Heaven's Fate available now.

Hello folks,
I recently met and interviewed author Andre Alan. His recently published fantasy novel, Heaven’s Fate, sounds very interesting and entertaining, and I look forward reviewing it in the future. Today I’ll post the interview so that you can get to know him better and learn about his new book.
First, here is a little background information: Andre Alan is from Hartford, CT and attended college in New Haven, CT. After graduating with a degree in international business and a brief career as an IT data analyst, Andre Alan decided to follow his lifelong passion of creating fiction entertainment. With a small amount of artistic talent, some of his first memories are of drawing. After a brief stint at poetry and comics, the timing seemed ripe to pursue fantasy novel writing. An avid video gamer, when there is time, and an addict for cup noodles. Andre is a sports fanatic and a lifelong student of business.
Hi, Andre. Welcome to my blog. It’s a pleasure to have you with us today.
Thanks, Christine. It’s great to be here.
Where are you from?
I was born in Hartford, CT and lived there with my younger sister. We were raised by our mom, a single parent. I have spent most of my life in CT, and went to school in New Haven, CT.
Do you recall how your interest in writing started?
Basically by being inspired by R.A. Salvatore and Robert Jordan after college. Before that I was always creating things. I grew up drawing Ninja Turtles and GI Joe. Later in life, it was a comic strip in my college newspaper and now I use words to paint the pictures in my head. I figured that since I like to read so much, I am going to try and put out a book for one of the many ideas that I have come up with over the years for the plethora of characters that I have drawn and created.
When and why did you begin writing?
While working at a help desk right after college is when I first decided to start on this journey and pursue novel writing. Not that I want to date myself too much but that was around a decade ago.
Can you tell us about your book, Heaven’s Fate?
Thame Elliot, an expert Rietsu martial artist, is consumed with thoughts of avenging his father’s death and rebuilding the legendary Tundra Sword. Little does Thame know that his aunt, the first empress of the human continent, Eioda, Autumn Augustus, has set the nation on a course that can only lead to war with the Orcs. The mystical inhabitants on the planet, Threa, have been plunged into a struggle for the ancient artifacts buried in the mysterious “Consummate of the Trust.” Not only that but his aunt is hell bent on marrying him to a corrupt military admiral’s daughter while Thame’s spiritual guardian, Masaya from the Astral Plane, tries to manipulate him in order to keep the heavens from falling apart. The fate of mankind rests in Thame’s young hands, but does he even want the responsibility that goes along with being the chosen one? Or will Thame’s spiritual twin, imbued with dark powers granted by the evil one, assassinate him before he can fulfill his destiny?
What inspired you to write it?
The need to express myself in some form of entertainment. I read Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and then I thought to myself that I wanted to do what he did.
How did you come up with the title?
Because the fate of the heavens ultimately ends up in the hands of my main character, Thame.
Did you learn anything from writing your book?
I learned a lot actually, but the major thing I learned was patience and following a process. No matter how fast I would like to go and get the book out and get a movie deal, it all starts with putting the words to paper and then following the “book-making process.”
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The editing is always the hardest part for me because it feels like I have to cut out everything I just spent months writing. But the editing process also makes the book better because I correct so many of my mistakes.
What are you working on now?
Right now I am working, mostly, on promoting Heaven’s Fate. But I always try to find time to write in my new book, Winter’s Legacy, which is part two of theHeaven Trilogy (I just now decided that I was going to start calling it that, hope everyone likes it). But in book two we pick up with Thame, married… I won’t say to who yet, gotta read it to find out ;) and also he is the leader of the special ops search team sent to the other continent to find Miles Xavier, not to mention that now he can no longer enter the Oresme Sphere.
Is writing your sole career?
Yes, writing is now my career, besides also being the CEO of my own publishing company, EVapor Entertainment. If it was a perfect world I would hire someone else to manage the company so that way I could spend all of my time writing.
What book are you reading now?
Amped by Daniel H. Wilson.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I would choose R.A. Salvatore. I love the way he keeps his books action packed. He writes his fight scenes with such clarity and vigor that you can put yourself into the characters’ shoes and dodge punches along with the hero. He also manages to keep the global theme of story prevalent and bring through the emotion in his characters.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Being an avid reader gets you through a lot. Taking a step back from your own work to briefly enjoy someone else’s does make a difference. I think that it allows your mind to take a break and reset, in a way.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you very much and you are greatly appreciated from the bottom of my heart. The reason why I write is for the reader. So that they can be thoroughly entertained. So stick with me on this journey for a great ride.
You can pick up Andre’s book at AmazonBarnes & Noble, and Smashwords. It is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
You can find out more about Andre and his book on FacebookTwitter, and hiswebsite.

This is a reposting of the interview orginally found here: http://christinericeauthor.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/interview-with-andre-alan/