by Kathy Brasby | Mar 13, 2024 | Reviews
A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes
What if you knew the time when you’d die? What if your government assigned you a clock that counted down to your death? You’d know the day. What would you do with such knowledge?
That’s the premise of Nadine Brandes’ book, A Time to Die, the first book in her A Time To Die trilogy.
Although the story takes place in the mid-twenty-second century, this is not the world of the Jetsons, with technology providing for every need. No, this world will remind you of the 1800s with a village square, a market with wooden booths and leafless dogwood trees.
Such is the nature of oppression.
Clocks Matter
Anyone who neglects their Clock, which represents their remaining time, will be punished severely.
We follow Parvin, a teenage girl who defends a Radical found without his Clock, declaring that “his life matters. Not his Clock.”
Thus begins a journey searching for meaning for Parvin. She is certain that she has squandered her time and yet she wants to matter and believes that she does not.
When she is betrayed by a man that she thought was aiding her cause, she faces the Wall. Dissenters are sent through the Wall and no one is sure what awaits them, but most assume it is death.
Once she survives her own severe consequences, she is cast into a different world where she must determine whom she can trust.
An Overcomer
Parvin overcomes obstacles. Sure, she’s fearful and second-guesses herself, but she keeps going. Somehow she finds courage to overcome – and believe there’s something better in her future. That’s what hope is about.
Parvin’s emotions throughout the book are like a batch of towels coming out the dryer, hot and tumbled together.
She trusts, and she distrusts – sometimes the same people and almost at the same time. Despite this, she yearns to hear God speak and have faith that he is the ultimate giver of meaning to her life.
This YA (Young Aadult – but it’s not just for teenagers) dystopian book is well written. Parvin touches our hearts as she works to overcome what she assumes is her unfair fate. She believes she’s incapable of much, but her actions prove her wrong over and over. She’s not sure if she trusts God, but she’s quick to tell others about him – and share her precious Bible with people she meets on the way.
The Search for Meaning
This is a book of high adventure and deep characters who work to find meaning in their own lives, despite the Clock.
I found this book in my search for stories about overcoming. It’s skillfully written, and I’d absolutely recommend this book.
Check out Nadine’s website for more information about this book and others exploring characters who overcome.
https://nadinebrandes.com/
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by Kathy Brasby | Feb 13, 2024 | Reviews
When’s The Next Book?
My 14-year-old grandson devoured Fugitive of Talionis by C.J. Milacci in a weekend and his response was, “When’s the next book?” He had been checking with me for months so that he could read this book even if the printer ink was still damp. He devoured Recruit of Talionis. (Probably in a weekend, too.) Both Talionis books connect with Young Adult (YA) readers who are stomping their feet waiting for the next book in the series.
Fugitive of Talionis is long on tension and action, which appeals to YA readers, and short on bad language and sexual content, which should appeal to YA readers’ parents and grandparents. The characters grow in courage, trust in friends, and faith in God. There’s a clear conflict pitting our heroes as the good guys against the Talionis as bad guys. The story doesn’t preach, though. It shows the conflict in powerful ways and the stakes are high.
The back copy of Fugitive of Talionis sets the stage nicely: They kidnapped her. Trained her. And now they’re hunting her. This is the story of Bria, a teenage girl who faces overwhelming and seemingly-hopeless situations–even when she manages to escape the powerful Talionis (they did the kidnapping and training.)
Bria Broke Free But…
I think we all breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the first book, Recruit of Talionis, when Bria and her friends brave overwhelming opposition to break free. But the Talionis doesn’t give up easily and Fugitive of Talionis traces the journey of these young escapees working hard to stay a step ahead of Commander Ark and his forces. Bria faces resistance at every turn, even within her own team, and learns more about her new faith in God as well as trust in her friends.
Highly recommended for the YA people in your life. And you might enjoy it, too. I definitely did. View all my reviews
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by Kathy Brasby | Feb 11, 2024 | Reviews
The Topic of Hope
I’ve been giving hope a great deal of thought lately and so, naturally, I cued up the movie I am Legend last night. I’m becoming more fascinated with dystopian stories because they wrestle with the idea of hope in what looks like overwhelming darkness.
The story begins after a cure for cancer goes sideways and turns into a lethal virus that turns most humans into vicious zombies. A few people are naturally immune, and our story focuses on Robert, a military virologist, who lives in Manhattan with his dog. Sam is his only companion.
Robert has worked out a healthy daily routine. Each day, after conducting experiments to find a cure, he drives the streets of the city announcing via radio broadcast that he will provide food, shelter, and protection at a specific location.. He spreads hope to any survivors.
As long as he remains in the daylight, he’s safe. The Darkseekers are the zombie types who can’t tolerate light. The movie uses symbolism of darkness vs. light.
At this point in the story, Robert exudes hope in a city savaged by the effects of the virus.
When Sam dies after an encounter with Darkseekers, our hero exchanges hope for rage. He gives up. His experiments aren’t working. His companion is dead. He’s plunged into despair.
The Revenge Plan
Robert puts together a clumsy revenge plan, aiming to kill as many Darkseekers as possible before they kill him. Of course, he unleashes this plan at night.
He’s rescued by a woman and boy who heard his daily radio broadcasts and came. Anna becomes the new hope in the story. She and Ethan are on their way to a survivors’ camp in Vermont.
Robert has now decided hope is useless. He’s sure no one else has survived. He rages at her: she’s a fool for thinking otherwise. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, as far as Robert can determine. There is no hope.
Back in 2007, when I first saw the movie, I am Legend was a horror/zombie story to me. But now I see through a different lens.
My Changes in Life
I’ve endured a lot of loss since that time. Some things I assumed would be a part of my future are now gone. I understand Robert’s loss of hope when his companion died and his experiments kept failing. He wanted to fix the world by curing the virus. When Sam died, the future abruptly dimmed to black. The darkness looked to have won.
But that’s not the way of hope. It impressed me when Anna credited God for guiding her to Robert. In the end, she was the one to declare to other survivors that there was still hope.
A dystopian story can illustrate movement from darkness to light, from loss to life, from revenge to renewal. Bleakness does not get the last word for a Christian who believes in God’s renewal and light and life.
Hope is the confidence that the light wins. That God wins.
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by Kathy Brasby | Oct 20, 2022 | Hope, Reviews
Recruit of Talionis by C.J. Milacci
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Too often dystopian books project only darkness and defeat but Recruit of Talionis plunges the reader into a dark world where the characters move through difficult times with courage, determination, and faith. They find hope in spite of the circumstances.
This is a great book to offer to teens and young adults—or anyone who enjoys reading this genre. Well written and full of unexpected turns.
View all my reviews
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