CSFF: Blog Tour - The Begotten

This month's CSFF feature is The Begotten by Lisa T. Bergren

The Begotten in indeed an interesting novel, and hard to classify as others on the tour have stated. Currently I'm only about five and a half chapters into the novel, and it's already getting me to think. The story starts off fast and has a strong hook, then slows the pace to let you catch up with where the world is at as the first of the Gifted are brought together and an evil is introduced.

I think what has got me thinking so far is the first instance of the healing gift shown in the novel. Unlike many instances of healing we might see in a typical fantasy or sci-fi, this one isn't a near-instantaneous act. Instead, Daria (the healer) spends a grueling four hours in earnest prayer, along with many others. She even continues prayer "in her dreams" after she passes out from exhaustion. Only later when she is awakened is the healing shown.

This piqued my interest and got me wondering if I liked the instance or not. On one hand it left no doubt that the healing was coming from God. On the other, it didn't really make it seem like Daria was overly special.

There is a possibility that as the story progresses the healing gift could become more immediate and 'flashy' I suppose. Still I don't wonder if perhaps there's a lesson here for those of us who write fantasy or science fiction.

But I think I'll delve into that later this week, along with more thoughts on The Begotten as I progress in the reading.

Be sure to check out the rest of the tour:

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Jackie Castle
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Michael Heald
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Terri Main
Margaret
Melissa Meeks
Pamela Morrisson
John W. Otte
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

Emerging from the Dark Abyss of CyberSpace

Shnakvorum, Earthlings!

Wow, hard to imagine it has been over a year since my last post! Quite a lot has happened since then. Getting married and moving my new wife halfway across the country is only part of why I went dark though.

Around this time last year I reached a point where I felt like I was repeatedly bashing my head into an adamantium wall. I flamed out and really began to question if writing was something I really wanted to do.

But as with all cycles of life, my sojourn through the dark couldn't last forever. My fusion reactors are warming up, and the etherial nets are unfurling to catch the mystic currents that flow through the vast imagination.

In short, I'm back and ready to pick up the pen again. And it is fun to discover what all has changed, and what's stayed the same since I last plied these waters.

But, enough with the purple prose and mixed metaphors.

I'm back. And I've got a keyboard and am not afraid to use it.