Wednesday 20 August 2014

BOOK OF THE DAY: Mr. Ruins by Michael John Grist


by Michael John Grist
(Click for UK AustraliaCanada  or India purchase)





BOOK DESCRIPTION
The mind is a Molten Core.

Ritry Goligh is an ex-Arctic skirmisher working as a graysmith in the neon skulks of proto-Calico, beyond the tsunami wall. Like the barges that tile the wall's coast, he has no roots, no future, and no ambition, until a shadowy figure with an excellent hat drops the corpse of Napoleon at his feet.

This is Mr. Ruins. He promises roots without compromise, and in the rusted hull of a belly-up cathedral ship, in the abandoned diaspora of old-war subglacics, he teaches Ritry one indestructible lesson: the roots of the dead still exist, and can be salvaged for strength. With that new strength Rit begins to grow again.

But Mr. Ruins asks a terrible price. In an orange-shifted world where memory is magma and consciousness a chord of seven lost marines battling through a planet's Molten Core, Rit must learn to fight for his sanity, and the sanity of every person he loves. Because Mr. Ruins knows them now, and wants them for himself.

Readers have said:
- "Brilliant and heart-stopping … I couldn't put it down ... mixes an Iain M. Banks-ish lyrical style with high-octane action seamlessly"
- "Gorgeously drawn ruins blend with an action-packed plot that reminded me of Inception, though very different … an adventure unlike anything else."

Book #1 in the Ruins Sonata Trilogy. Books #2 and #3 will be released in September and October 2014.

Caution: Contains strong language and violence.

AUTHOR BIO


Michael John Grist is a British science-fiction & fantasy author, and ruins photographer who lives in Tokyo, Japan. http://www.michaeljohngrist.com

- His short stories have been published in Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Andromeda Spaceways, Ideomancer, Kaleidotrope, as well as in numerous other publications. He typically writes heroic science fiction and epic fantasy with a dark, surreal humor.

He also explores and photographs the modern ruined buildings of Japan, known as haikyo (AKA urbex), driven by a childhood spent re-enacting the adventures of Indiana Jones and the Goonies in the fields behind his house.

Now that he's grown up, this kind of 'exploring' may seem a bit of a silly thing to do (as one friend pointed out- 'they're just dirty old buildings'), but the appeal of photography, travel, and yes, still adventure, keep him coming back for more.

Some of the 70 or so locations he's visited include abandoned theme parks, military installations, ruins of the sex industry, and ghost towns.

- He has contributed haikyo articles and photography to books, web magazines, encyclopedias, print magazines, and is featured in the award-winning haikyo documentary movie Silent Visitors


REVIEWS
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, dramatic & will draw you in deep! August 4, 2014
By Bethany
Format:Kindle Edition
Read this book with an open mind.. Much is going on that will seem rather confusing at first but don't be discouraged! Stick with it & soak up the ambiance as it will all make sense. The more you read, the more you'll be sucked in, feeling, hearing, smelling the surroundings and not wanting to step away. MJG is a master of this, and this addictive tale proves it yet again! From the start you begin to feel for the characters as though you're in their minds, feeling & thinking as they are. This bond only gets stronger as you read on. The situations they get into & the suspense, oh the suspense!! Nearly impossible to put down & full of mini-cliffhangers, each section drive you on to want to know what happens next. There was more than one time I yelled at the text.. No! Arg!! So engrossed in the story that I'm physically reacting to it.. More than once my mind was twisted around in the emotions of the characters.. be it their confusion or their desperation.

A couple lines in the book that really struck a chord for me .. "The unconsidered life is not worth living" Something to think about...

"But is that all you are, casualty of a specific kind of surrender? Are you the lion who will not bloody his claws or fangs for the pain it will cause his prey? So the lion pines and dies, and what does he honor any living thing that he will not do as his nature dictates, to the best of his ability? What do you honor Ritry, to deny yourself?"

"What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?"

These hit me hard & really brought up the thoughts of my own life.. I then identified even more with Ritry & where he starts in this story.. No I'm not a former soldier, but of the bland routine of life that he (and I) had settled into. Following Ritry's trials & transformations is as intoxicating as it is invigorating! It leaves me both hopeful & thoughtful, but also fearful.
The emotional roller-coaster is a wild ride for sure. The connections & struggles & fear that's captured in the text is so thick you can taste it. Beautiful & terrifying, exciting & fearful, this is no light read. It will suck you in & steal you for a while, but the journey is worth it! All of the emotion.. the laughter to the tears.. all worth it! Excellent & relatable characters, a villain that is the sum of all fears that you can truly hate, and a glorious battle at the core of it all! (Plus it's good to know, now, where all of those thoughts go when you randomly forget what you were doing, or walk into a room & have no idea why you went there in the first place lol It all makes sense now!!)


OTHER WORKS
Bone Diamond: Weird Stories

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