The Sibyl Reborn

by J. Perry Kelly

In The Sibyl Reborn, a speculative urban fantasy that spans Man's prehistoric creation and pending dooms, a prophetess cursed from antiquity reincarnates to save the future only to learn that she might be a pawn who seals our fate. When Cassandra Shavano--newlywed, avid hiker, environmentalist--resorts to metaphysics to reshape her destiny, she entangles the immediate fates of eight people, a teenage ghost, the CIA, mankind, and its parent species. Trapped in a karmic labyrinth fraught with seduction, betrayal, and murder, can she unearth Man's darkest secret, escape the maze, and solve an impossible riddle, or will the curse win again with forever at stake for humanity and Earth?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

650 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Twice a surrogate 'stem cells' spokesperson for the White House, James ended five years of biotech activism in 2006 when he realized a strategy that had confused and divided Americans over stem cells was being used to promote global climate denial. He writes to entertain readers with books and novels that develop challenging concepts into fast-paced and socially relevant plots. Prior to a 1997 auto accident that left him paralyzed, James enjoyed a twenty-year railroad career, restoring antique furniture, and rambling over backcountry roads or forgotten trails from Colorado's gold rush. Today he lives near at the foot of Pikes Peak with Selene, his wife of twenty-eight years and his inspiration for Cassandra, the sibyl reborn.

Reviews

[Chris Torretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out much better than I thought it would. Sadly, seemed to wane quite a bit after halfway through.

Full audio review coming soon.

Received by author, through audiobookreviewer.com, in exchange for an honest review.

Edit for full review:
I was a little worried about picking this up. At 650 pages the audio is 20 hrs and 17 mins and even though I like to listen at a speed of 1.3 or 1.5, that still leaves quite a bit of book to tackle. What interested me was the main character’s hippy attitude. Cassandra is just like the synopsis says, a tree loving bohemian that is worried about her environment and what is happening to it.

The first part of this book totally had me. I loved hearing about Cassandra and her foibles. She is so happy about life that she even stages a protest, and brings enough signs for an army, and stays even though she is the only person that showed up. She’s strong and confident and everything girls should be reading about. Interestingly she really fights for what she believes in but this can get a little overwhelming when it sounds like she’s being preachy.

There are other characters that are also just as preachy for whatever they believe in. The main problem that I had with this was that all their voices started being too similar. With only one narrator and almost every character using the same vocabulary, it can get very different to differentiate between the characters.

Then there is Cassandra’s sister. My sister and I have had our issues but I would never treat my sister the way this lady treats hers. I just do not even understand why they hang out together when all she wants to do is stab Cassandra in the back! Her holier than thou attitude made it difficult to continue listening to the story.

The other characters that have holier than thou attitudes wind up speaking in such a way that deciphering who is saying what got difficult. This could be partially the narrator but I think the characters were great other than when they thought they were better than everyone else, so again I think it was the way the characters were developed. The narrator otherwise did a fantastic job but the story itself let me down. The audio, also, was superbly done without one hiccup in the recording.

Sadly, after about halfway through the story it started getting a bit tedious. I was tired of hearing about everyone wanting to screw everyone else over. For a 20 hour audio, it is a lot. Many times I found myself thinking of other things just so I could get away from the outgoing insistence that everyone in this book was better than everyone else. I went from being quite excited about the prospects of the aliens and the different lives that were going to intersect, to dreading it.

It fell short for me. Maybe due to the length but definitely because of the ongoing strife between the characters which did not fully add up. All in all, better than what I originally anticipated.

[Susan Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sibyl Reborn is a thought-provoking, timely novel that's jam packed with action, adventure, suspense, sensuality, metaphysics and a bit of comic relief. The novel's many twists and turns, and plots and subplots will keep readers guessing and wanting more. However, on the flip side, the same twists, turns, plots and subplots and fairly sizeable cast of characters did have a tendency to be slightly confusing at times.

Cassandra is a likeable character and it didn't take long for me to begin rooting for her while she pursued her quest of educating people on the importance of protecting our environment. Some of the other characters were rather colorful and added nicely to the story.

Make no mistake, The Sibyl Reborn is no quick read. If you enjoy easy, breezy reading, you may end up being impatient. Earlier characters faded away for awhile and then returned later leaving me a little confused at first - which, when reading on a Kindle is frustrating because flipping back several chapters isn't easy.

Author, J. Perry Kelly, brings a great deal of technical experience to this book, and it really shows. This is also Mr. Kelly's first novel and the results are quite impressive. The Sibyl Reborn is a cleverly crafted novel that's sure to give readers pause to think about where we are as a society (and possibly were?) and where we might be going. I'd have to say that The Sibyl Reborn is clever entertainment with a positive message.

[Larry Ortman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable story filled with three dimensional characters. In the beginning we are introduced to the varied cast and their ambitions and motivations. An accidental death in a regression session sets off a chain of events that slowly converge all their destinies together. The story combines environmental issues, metaphysics, psychology, covert government operations and aliens. Over the course of the story the characters reveal more of their depth and we see more of the big picture of why the aliens are here and what their purpose is. The pacing is perfect and will keep you engaged until the satisfying conclusion. I found myself caring about the characters and the outcomes and the story had many twists and turns to keep it from being predictable. An excellent first book from an author I hope will write many more.

[Tywyll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siybl Reborn is an ambitious undertaking. There are a lot of people and events to keep track of. While this makes things confusing at times, I was impressed with the author's ability to keep track of everyone, their role, where they currently are, and where he wanted the story to go. I enjoyed his skill in how they're all interwoven and connected.
However, it feels like several novels and plots packed into one. I wasn't sure sure where the main plot was going until more than halfway through the book. Thankfully, after that point, the story does pick up. Even so, I do wish the plot was more direct. The reader doesn't get a concise explanation of what's happening until page 440.
Certain scenes seem unnecessary and obscure the plot i.e. TMI with Margot shaving, wife or not. The characters' "every day" conversations come off highly intellectual and somewhat preachy - politically, environmentally, and religiously. Some even sound like a psychology textbook. The author is definitely well-educated and well-read in a variety of subjects, no doubt there.
I'm not familiar with metaphysical fiction so maybe this book is right for the genre. The author has a definite message (or messages) to relate.
All in all, Sibyl Reborn is an interesting story. One just has to wade through a lot to get there.

Note: I received a free copy from the author for a fair and honest review.

[Toni Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sibyl Reborn is difficult to summarize. It's long, complicated, and full of thought-provoking ideas and characters. It entangles every genre with a wide range of personalities, from a tree-hugger activist to government-sanctioned serial killers, a cat who thinks he's God's gift to mankind, everyday men and woman who just want to succeed in life, and yes, inquisitive aliens. There's romance, horror, comedy, and this writer doesn't pull any punches when it comes to dishing out the Karma.

If the Sibyl is cursed to never be believed, who better to portray such a fate than an ambitious environmentalist? The whole premise was just fascinating. Read it! But don't expect to read it in one sitting, or even two. Digest it slowly.

I happened to see this tagline and I think it sums it up nicely to give you an idea. "If Erin Brockovich threatened the X-Files to fight Climate Change...."

Click here for the full review/interview with J. Perry Kelly

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a while to finish, partly due to going away and partly because it is not a particularly quick or easy read. Kelly combines environmental issues, alternative medicines and lifestyles, government conspiracies, advanced technology and a bit of alien presence and influence to create a complex story that I'll be honest left me slightly perplexed. I got the message about the importance of protecting the environment and how this can benefit economies despite the mainstream thought that it is bad business to do so. However the alien aspect was somewhat lost on me. I kind of get the idea that humans are in fact outcast aliens but whenever they popped up I just got a little confused and as I was reading this on kindle I couldn't really flip back and fore particularly easy. Don't get me wrong though this is a good read but one you need to take the time over to fully appreciate, think I might have to come back to this one and read it again in future.

[Cloey.k · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Cassandra, she was hilarious but also very serious when she wants to get something done. She is a strong women who is not afraid to manipulate others to get her way. Another character that I liked in this story was Margot, she is that cruel neighbor who only cares about personal gain and I liked the way she always has her own agenda. Then there's Sylvia, a struggling reporter, who wants to move up to a better position at her newspaper but has a conscious – it sucks to be her but I like the way she develops in the story. And there was a cat named Caesar the Wise and Fur-filled, whoa, very – very funny. There are many other interesting characters that keeps the conspiracies going and the pages turning. Get ready to laugh, maybe cry, and possibly learn something new. I would definitely read this one again and the next if Mr. Kelly writes one.

[S.M. Blooding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just have to say that my email correspondence with J. Perry Kelly was lovely! I chuckled every time I saw an email with his name on it. I just knew it was going to be a hoot. This is definitely an author you want to know.

The cover…didn’t sell me. Remember? I believe I’ve mentioned it before how shallow minded I am. Well, this is one case where I’m glad the author talked me into the book before I saw the cover!

This book is one of those really fun finds! The characters were good, though…sometimes they did things that didn’t make sense. There missing emotional transitions. However, the they were still fun to read. The plot was good. I sincerely didn’t feel as though I’d read this plot line a million times.

All in all, it was a good, fun read! You should give it a try!

[✿Claire✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book with all of its twists and turns. Even though it was very confusing at times, it still kept me desperately trying to finish it and find how it ends.

I very much liked the main characters, with the exception of Suzie and Eric, especially Cassandra and Crystal.

Definitely well worth reading, thank you

[Petula Darling]

Astoundingly bad.