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Mauria
The real story of Adam & Eve? A gripping tale of two civilizations, one the food supply of the other. The heroic industrial Maurians, walled in their metallic city, using technology to stamp out messy things like emotions, honesty, and sex.
The Vuervee, nature loving in the wilds, living the truth of "The Circle" but being hunted and devoured by the Maurians.
Two hybrids, each unaware of their roots, who may be the only hope for the future.
In the spirit of LORD OF THE RINGS and AVATAR, author Steve North weaves an epic fantasy tale -- MAURIA .
The Vuervee, nature loving in the wilds, living the truth of "The Circle" but being hunted and devoured by the Maurians.
Two hybrids, each unaware of their roots, who may be the only hope for the future.
In the spirit of LORD OF THE RINGS and AVATAR, author Steve North weaves an epic fantasy tale -- MAURIA .
220 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2010
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Steve North
7 books12 followersSteve North, the premiere comedy coach in Hollywood for more than thirty years, has coached thousands of comedy hopefuls and heads up two of the longest running standup workshops in the Los Angeles area.
He has appeared as Steve North the Comedy Coach on national television shows, at comedy festivals across the United States, in Judy Carter’s Comedy Career in a Box DVD set, and he stars in the DVD Secrets of Comedy from Comedy Time. He has also conducted many corporate seminars on comedy—both solo and with his comedy partner and wife, Barb North.
The team of Barb and Steve North has performed live standup comedy at the Comedy Store, the Improv, the Ice House, and in nightclubs all over the world—including colleges and conventions. Besides performing on a multitude of television shows (Make Me Laugh, Thicke Of The Night, The Mike Douglas Show, and NBC Fantasy), the Norths worked as writers and producers on The Gong Show, America’s Funniest Videos, Totally Hidden Video, Make Me Laugh, and many more.
Steve trained in comedy with Second City, The Committee, Avery Schreiber, Spolin Players, Jack Kosslyn, Danny Simon, Joyce Selznick, and Estelle Tepper.
Visit Steve North the Comedy Coach at www.FunnyCoach.com
He has appeared as Steve North the Comedy Coach on national television shows, at comedy festivals across the United States, in Judy Carter’s Comedy Career in a Box DVD set, and he stars in the DVD Secrets of Comedy from Comedy Time. He has also conducted many corporate seminars on comedy—both solo and with his comedy partner and wife, Barb North.
The team of Barb and Steve North has performed live standup comedy at the Comedy Store, the Improv, the Ice House, and in nightclubs all over the world—including colleges and conventions. Besides performing on a multitude of television shows (Make Me Laugh, Thicke Of The Night, The Mike Douglas Show, and NBC Fantasy), the Norths worked as writers and producers on The Gong Show, America’s Funniest Videos, Totally Hidden Video, Make Me Laugh, and many more.
Steve trained in comedy with Second City, The Committee, Avery Schreiber, Spolin Players, Jack Kosslyn, Danny Simon, Joyce Selznick, and Estelle Tepper.
Visit Steve North the Comedy Coach at www.FunnyCoach.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 20, 2019
I really struggled to get into this book and honestly only made it a few chapters. There where way too many characters and too many made up words. It was difficult to understand what was going on. I’m still not sure what mented means since it seems to be used in different contexts.
June 5, 2018
Two races, completely different. The opposites of one another and each live by completely different codes and ethics. Both flourish and live out grand lives, within their own set of expectations of. Enemies, yet both truly depend on the other.
The circle is.
And, I have a few new words that I have discovered in Mauria. Words such as anyso, everso, moreso.
The pages jumped out at me in color.
The words written from both races could almost be defined as new languages in a new world, somewhat like and then again nothing like Earth. It becomes evident in the very first pages of Mauria the differences in the races and the ranking of each.
We are continually reminded the Vuervee respect a code that life is a circle. All things have a purpose and even though they are allowed to flourish by the Maurians simply as food, this is still accepted by all as part of the circle.
The circle ends. The circle begins. The circle is.
The Maurians are steadfast, only growing in what they consider true progress. Their description reminded me of Pink Floyd videos and made up like machines, leaving a lot of emotion out of their daily lives, most usually. They look upon integrity as the ultimate ingredient, and making each Maurian a Hero if they succeed.
The strange and frustrating degree is how the Maurians define integrity
.
The Vuervee live by a code. To kill another is to kill yourself.
Until a mating occurs. A mating between a Vuervee and a Maurian.
The offspring of that mating changes everything…gradually and everso.
Mauria is truly an amazing and creative read. If you enjoy being swept away to a fantasy place that can only exist for those with a vivid imagination, you will adore this book. I adore it, and will cherish the message that is coded in the alluring words. Allow yourself the time to be held captive in its pages, and you will be filled with hope and beauty. And, evenso for all the ugly that is manifested…and unfortunately much like life, much like earth.
I absolutely loved reading Mauria. It is vividly beautiful and an incredible fantasy sci-fi! I highly recommend adding Mauria by Steve North to your reading list.
The circle is.
And, I have a few new words that I have discovered in Mauria. Words such as anyso, everso, moreso.
The pages jumped out at me in color.
The words written from both races could almost be defined as new languages in a new world, somewhat like and then again nothing like Earth. It becomes evident in the very first pages of Mauria the differences in the races and the ranking of each.
We are continually reminded the Vuervee respect a code that life is a circle. All things have a purpose and even though they are allowed to flourish by the Maurians simply as food, this is still accepted by all as part of the circle.
The circle ends. The circle begins. The circle is.
The Maurians are steadfast, only growing in what they consider true progress. Their description reminded me of Pink Floyd videos and made up like machines, leaving a lot of emotion out of their daily lives, most usually. They look upon integrity as the ultimate ingredient, and making each Maurian a Hero if they succeed.
The strange and frustrating degree is how the Maurians define integrity
.
The Vuervee live by a code. To kill another is to kill yourself.
Until a mating occurs. A mating between a Vuervee and a Maurian.
The offspring of that mating changes everything…gradually and everso.
Mauria is truly an amazing and creative read. If you enjoy being swept away to a fantasy place that can only exist for those with a vivid imagination, you will adore this book. I adore it, and will cherish the message that is coded in the alluring words. Allow yourself the time to be held captive in its pages, and you will be filled with hope and beauty. And, evenso for all the ugly that is manifested…and unfortunately much like life, much like earth.
I absolutely loved reading Mauria. It is vividly beautiful and an incredible fantasy sci-fi! I highly recommend adding Mauria by Steve North to your reading list.
September 11, 2012
Overall Feedback: At first this was hard to get into as I had to get used to the language and it uses. Once I was able to find the pattern of speach and get a basic understanding of the uses of wording it became a pageturner. As a first novel this would be a fair break into becoming a great author but just needs some fine tuning around description.
Point of View: The story unfolds from many characters viewpoints but ties together nicely at the end. I must warn that you will have to try and keep up with the differing viewpoints of which can become confusing during the initial reading.
Voice: This is where the author excels the most. He gives all of his characters great voice that compels the reader to forge ahead.
Character Development: If you focus on every character you will find some under developed but for the most part the characters grow and chage just as the story does.
Plot: Here is where a reader may get lost as the initial plot does not seem to fit about half way through. But Steve does a fine job of catching the disparity and bringing it back to the focus of the story.
Dialogue: This is another area that the author excels. He has had obvious experience with dialogue and using it to move the story from character to character.
Pacing: Initially the pacing slows the reader but eventually picks up to close out the book and leaving the reader wanting to know more.
Setting: Here I find myself at a bit of a loss. Going by the description of the book I would have thought that the author would have tried to tie humanity in with both races in the book (of which I saw him showing that each race displayed 1 part of what it is to be human) but I could not find this in the story. The technological experience of the Maurians should have been lessor than our own but I guess imagination does not have to explain all.
Continuity: There seems to be some things left out. Such as, what the meanings of Maurian time, money and other things are. How they are tabulated. I found myself a bit confused on these areas but they do not remove from the story as the reader can make a best guess.
Point of View: The story unfolds from many characters viewpoints but ties together nicely at the end. I must warn that you will have to try and keep up with the differing viewpoints of which can become confusing during the initial reading.
Voice: This is where the author excels the most. He gives all of his characters great voice that compels the reader to forge ahead.
Character Development: If you focus on every character you will find some under developed but for the most part the characters grow and chage just as the story does.
Plot: Here is where a reader may get lost as the initial plot does not seem to fit about half way through. But Steve does a fine job of catching the disparity and bringing it back to the focus of the story.
Dialogue: This is another area that the author excels. He has had obvious experience with dialogue and using it to move the story from character to character.
Pacing: Initially the pacing slows the reader but eventually picks up to close out the book and leaving the reader wanting to know more.
Setting: Here I find myself at a bit of a loss. Going by the description of the book I would have thought that the author would have tried to tie humanity in with both races in the book (of which I saw him showing that each race displayed 1 part of what it is to be human) but I could not find this in the story. The technological experience of the Maurians should have been lessor than our own but I guess imagination does not have to explain all.
Continuity: There seems to be some things left out. Such as, what the meanings of Maurian time, money and other things are. How they are tabulated. I found myself a bit confused on these areas but they do not remove from the story as the reader can make a best guess.
April 18, 2011
Back before our current species existed there lived two races, the Maurians and the Vurvee. The Maurians were the so called advanced of the two, hunting and living off the nearby, peaceful Vurvee. This was the way of their lives until Blisfur (a Vurvee) and Kurk (a Maurian) fall unexpectedly in love. Around the same time a Maurian scientist is experimenting with Maurian and Vurvee DNA and produces Trebel. And so begins the demise of the status quo as they know it.
Originally I was really excited for this book. A little bit fantasy, a little bit speculative fiction. Sounded like a good time. Never did I expect to be so confused. First of all, there are way too many characters. Characters (Maurian and Vurvee alike) are thrown at you left, right and centre. Some of them relevant, most of them extras who are featured to prominently. This is only exacerbated by the vocabulary used to describe the strange world of Mauria. North has created his own language to describe many of the customs, philosophies and surroundings of Mauria. This normally wouldn't be a problem except that many of them are thrown in without context or definition and some are used once and never seen again. Sometimes the language just seemed lazy, for example MauriaYear, forehair, waisthair, WeatherSensor, and using “Mr. Sir.” when referring to people of authority.
I still think the premise of this book is interesting. I like the Vurvee and I really like Trebel. She's an important character and their should be more focus on her. She's the first person from CityMauria to break out and survive in the wilderness like the Vurvee. She's strong, naive and likeable. There needs to more Trebel!
My copy is the advanced review copy, so who knows some changes could be made. From my perspective the book just needs a good stylistic editor to go through and fix it up. So I'm going to hold off recommending this book. Maybe one day there will be a revised version and I'll try reading it again. Until then get your fantasy fix elsewhere.
Originally I was really excited for this book. A little bit fantasy, a little bit speculative fiction. Sounded like a good time. Never did I expect to be so confused. First of all, there are way too many characters. Characters (Maurian and Vurvee alike) are thrown at you left, right and centre. Some of them relevant, most of them extras who are featured to prominently. This is only exacerbated by the vocabulary used to describe the strange world of Mauria. North has created his own language to describe many of the customs, philosophies and surroundings of Mauria. This normally wouldn't be a problem except that many of them are thrown in without context or definition and some are used once and never seen again. Sometimes the language just seemed lazy, for example MauriaYear, forehair, waisthair, WeatherSensor, and using “Mr. Sir.” when referring to people of authority.
I still think the premise of this book is interesting. I like the Vurvee and I really like Trebel. She's an important character and their should be more focus on her. She's the first person from CityMauria to break out and survive in the wilderness like the Vurvee. She's strong, naive and likeable. There needs to more Trebel!
My copy is the advanced review copy, so who knows some changes could be made. From my perspective the book just needs a good stylistic editor to go through and fix it up. So I'm going to hold off recommending this book. Maybe one day there will be a revised version and I'll try reading it again. Until then get your fantasy fix elsewhere.
May 6, 2011
I could not wait to read Mauria, Steve North's first novel. The idea that it would be influenced by Avatar, with a smackering of a Lord of the Rings influence tossed in, highly appealed to me. As I began to read, however, I was sorely disappointed.
I believe the storyline is an intriguing one, and I love the contrast between the two races. The Maurians are city-dwellers, more human in appearance and behavior, and more focused on technology, power, and they use the Vuervee as food. They believe life is more a "line". The Vuervee, on the other hand, are more animal-like , live in nature, and believe to kill another is to kill yourself. To them, life is a circle. As I read the story, I began to enjoy the passages that featured some of my favorite characters, such as the half-breed female, Trebel, and the half-breed Dillon, even if I didn't fully understand every single thing they were talking about.
The author invented his own language for this book, for the characters, and throughout the book they are using certain terms that are never really given an explanation or definition of. And so, I felt like I was left guessing, scratching my head and trying to figure out what a certain term means in relation to the story. An example of a short passage is:
"To the Vuervee, the tree was a center of Signs. Many times Tedrin had Mented to the line of this tree that he might sense the ways of the Mauria."
Now, at first glance, that may be confusing. But, by the time I finished the book, I felt like maybe I had a better understanding of what certain terms (like some of those above) meant. And so, I feel with a second reading, my pace would be faster and I could enjoy the book more. My problem is that I want to thoroughly enjoy it the first time without having to stop and do a little homework. It's a nice world that the author has proposed here, but it just isn't painted as nicely as it could have been.
I do not believe this book is "terrible", only that it is "select", and it is not one written for me
I believe the storyline is an intriguing one, and I love the contrast between the two races. The Maurians are city-dwellers, more human in appearance and behavior, and more focused on technology, power, and they use the Vuervee as food. They believe life is more a "line". The Vuervee, on the other hand, are more animal-like , live in nature, and believe to kill another is to kill yourself. To them, life is a circle. As I read the story, I began to enjoy the passages that featured some of my favorite characters, such as the half-breed female, Trebel, and the half-breed Dillon, even if I didn't fully understand every single thing they were talking about.
The author invented his own language for this book, for the characters, and throughout the book they are using certain terms that are never really given an explanation or definition of. And so, I felt like I was left guessing, scratching my head and trying to figure out what a certain term means in relation to the story. An example of a short passage is:
"To the Vuervee, the tree was a center of Signs. Many times Tedrin had Mented to the line of this tree that he might sense the ways of the Mauria."
Now, at first glance, that may be confusing. But, by the time I finished the book, I felt like maybe I had a better understanding of what certain terms (like some of those above) meant. And so, I feel with a second reading, my pace would be faster and I could enjoy the book more. My problem is that I want to thoroughly enjoy it the first time without having to stop and do a little homework. It's a nice world that the author has proposed here, but it just isn't painted as nicely as it could have been.
I do not believe this book is "terrible", only that it is "select", and it is not one written for me
November 25, 2015
I was excited when I found this book, however it was confusing and a very difficult read for me, I did not finish. Maybe I will give it another chance soon.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews