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The Dragonfly Door
Most people would envy Frank Mann for living off a trust fund in beautiful San Francisco. But Frank was directionless and spiraling downward – lonely, drinking heavily, getting into brawls. He was sitting at a bar when above the gleaming bottles he first glimpsed the thing that would change his life forever.
“It was the largest dragonfly I’d ever seen. Its wings were silver and its body a luminescent blue-green, almost metallic. I swear it was looking right at me.”
But it wasn’t looking at him. It was looking for him. Because it wasn’t a dragonfly at all. It was a door into the future. And it was sent to find Frank Mann for one specific reason: because only he could save mankind from extinction.
A century from now, the world seems cleansed of pollution, relieved of conflict, liberated from want. Earth appears lush and beautiful, a renewed Eden. But there’s trouble in paradise: a deadly virus, destroying all of agriculture. Unleashed in our time, its catastrophic power only emerges a century from now. And to create an antidote, the scientists of tomorrow must obtain a sample of the virus from today. That’s where Frank Mann comes in.
But success will not be as easy as stepping through the dragonfly door.
eBook link is now available: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FL572Q4
print will be available on October 9, 2013 $1.99
“It was the largest dragonfly I’d ever seen. Its wings were silver and its body a luminescent blue-green, almost metallic. I swear it was looking right at me.”
But it wasn’t looking at him. It was looking for him. Because it wasn’t a dragonfly at all. It was a door into the future. And it was sent to find Frank Mann for one specific reason: because only he could save mankind from extinction.
A century from now, the world seems cleansed of pollution, relieved of conflict, liberated from want. Earth appears lush and beautiful, a renewed Eden. But there’s trouble in paradise: a deadly virus, destroying all of agriculture. Unleashed in our time, its catastrophic power only emerges a century from now. And to create an antidote, the scientists of tomorrow must obtain a sample of the virus from today. That’s where Frank Mann comes in.
But success will not be as easy as stepping through the dragonfly door.
eBook link is now available: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FL572Q4
print will be available on October 9, 2013 $1.99
ebook
First published October 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Margaret A. Millmore
10 books58 followersMargaret Millmore lives on a quaint island in the Puget Sound, Washington with her husband and two cantankerous alarm clocks (better known as cats, who are apparently starving to death at 5 a.m. every single darn morning…).
Her first published works were flash fiction, which were featured on Bay Area artist, Kenny Mencher’s blog, The Welcome Home and Untitled – Luke N. Goode.
In 2011 she published her first full length novel, since then she’s published a three book series, another novel and her current series (via Creativia Publishing) What Haunts Me (Ghost Killer Book 1) and The Edge of the Cemetery (Ghost Killer Book 2), which was awarded the August 2016 Book of the Month award by Long and Short Reviews. She’s currently working on book 3 in the series, which incorporates an epic journey taken by her grandfather in 1915, she hopes to have it published by early 2018. The majority of her books are set in San Francisco where she lived—previous to island life—for over 26 years.
Margaret’s preferred writing genre is supernatural fiction, with the exception of her time-travel novel, The Dragonfly Door.
All her books can be found on her website and her Amazon Author page:
http://www.margaretmillmore.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Millmo...
Additional links to follow:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author...
https://twitter.com/MMillmore
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
I am also a reviewer for the GR group Book Explosions, please check us out for what we're reading, what we like to read and our reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Her first published works were flash fiction, which were featured on Bay Area artist, Kenny Mencher’s blog, The Welcome Home and Untitled – Luke N. Goode.
In 2011 she published her first full length novel, since then she’s published a three book series, another novel and her current series (via Creativia Publishing) What Haunts Me (Ghost Killer Book 1) and The Edge of the Cemetery (Ghost Killer Book 2), which was awarded the August 2016 Book of the Month award by Long and Short Reviews. She’s currently working on book 3 in the series, which incorporates an epic journey taken by her grandfather in 1915, she hopes to have it published by early 2018. The majority of her books are set in San Francisco where she lived—previous to island life—for over 26 years.
Margaret’s preferred writing genre is supernatural fiction, with the exception of her time-travel novel, The Dragonfly Door.
All her books can be found on her website and her Amazon Author page:
http://www.margaretmillmore.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Millmo...
Additional links to follow:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author...
https://twitter.com/MMillmore
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
I am also a reviewer for the GR group Book Explosions, please check us out for what we're reading, what we like to read and our reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 17, 2014
THE DRAGON FLY DOOR is a science-fiction, time-travel thriller. It is clear that the story has roots in the classics of science-fiction. The story does offer novelty by switching between first and third person points of view. THE DRAGON FLY DOOR makes observations about humankind by offering a look at a future without conflict or hunger, but that paradise is threatened by a virus that Frank Mann, who has always lived off of a trust fund, must confront. To do this he must navigate the minefield of time travel (or his own life, depending on how you read the story). The plot was an interesting way to examine the way each of us is tied to the consequences of our choices. Or...it was just a fun adventure through spacetime--THE DRAGON FLY DOOR offers both.
January 20, 2014
Review of The Dragonfly Door
Written by Margaret A. Millmore
Reviewed by Author Roy Murry
The story told by Ms. Millmore, in her novel The Dragonfly door, is one of true fiction. She has stretched the reader’s imagination, bringing them to the edge of reality with a thrilling story that keeps you reading on, and on.
Each time the door is opened or closed a new twist is brought to light. Traveling with the speed of light in and out of the door, the main character learns more about why he was placed on earth and how his life has an effect on those that follow him after he makes a decision.
A conundrum, we all try to solve on a daily basis is how what we say to our children will affect their lives and our future with them, is placed in question. In her tale of the unknown, that gap is bridge and revealed somewhat.
This revelation presents eventful situations for the main characters where they meet the future. One of their own, in the present, has contaminated the world with a virus, leading to why one of the doors was opened in the first place.
You may be confused at first, but Margaret brings it all together with exciting prose, beginning with a man who is put in a psychiatric ward to the acceptance that that man and his mission is needed to save the world in the future. But, he is a lunatic. Or is he? You’ll have to read The Dragonfly Door to find out.
This novel hits all the right buttons: entertaining and gripping. A fine read over three or four sitting.
Written by Margaret A. Millmore
Reviewed by Author Roy Murry
The story told by Ms. Millmore, in her novel The Dragonfly door, is one of true fiction. She has stretched the reader’s imagination, bringing them to the edge of reality with a thrilling story that keeps you reading on, and on.
Each time the door is opened or closed a new twist is brought to light. Traveling with the speed of light in and out of the door, the main character learns more about why he was placed on earth and how his life has an effect on those that follow him after he makes a decision.
A conundrum, we all try to solve on a daily basis is how what we say to our children will affect their lives and our future with them, is placed in question. In her tale of the unknown, that gap is bridge and revealed somewhat.
This revelation presents eventful situations for the main characters where they meet the future. One of their own, in the present, has contaminated the world with a virus, leading to why one of the doors was opened in the first place.
You may be confused at first, but Margaret brings it all together with exciting prose, beginning with a man who is put in a psychiatric ward to the acceptance that that man and his mission is needed to save the world in the future. But, he is a lunatic. Or is he? You’ll have to read The Dragonfly Door to find out.
This novel hits all the right buttons: entertaining and gripping. A fine read over three or four sitting.
December 4, 2013
Review fo The Dragonfly Door
Written by Margaret Millmore
Reviewed by Author J.E. Negrete
It took longer than expected to finish reading this book. Some personal commitments affected my agenda. But the wait was worth it. Here is my review:
Science fiction is bay far, my favorite genre. Always pushing the limits of the possible to the impossible, such as fantasy books seek to break down the barriers of imagination. So when I discovered that the plot revolved around a man who discovers a dragonfly whose mission is to find him and save the future of humanity, my interest grew.
I then focused on read it with caution because, as for time travel, I tend to be somewhat challenging, given my fascination with relativistic physics. Apart from that the concept of traveling to the past to get the original strain of a virus that threatens the future has already been used on several occasions.
What I found pleased me. With the magic touch of dragonflies, the story becomes credible, with this man jumping through time by crossing a door. And that's the merit of a good story that gives credibility and consistency to fiction.
A very good story that engages and challenge the reader to think and feel.
Written by Margaret Millmore
Reviewed by Author J.E. Negrete
It took longer than expected to finish reading this book. Some personal commitments affected my agenda. But the wait was worth it. Here is my review:
Science fiction is bay far, my favorite genre. Always pushing the limits of the possible to the impossible, such as fantasy books seek to break down the barriers of imagination. So when I discovered that the plot revolved around a man who discovers a dragonfly whose mission is to find him and save the future of humanity, my interest grew.
I then focused on read it with caution because, as for time travel, I tend to be somewhat challenging, given my fascination with relativistic physics. Apart from that the concept of traveling to the past to get the original strain of a virus that threatens the future has already been used on several occasions.
What I found pleased me. With the magic touch of dragonflies, the story becomes credible, with this man jumping through time by crossing a door. And that's the merit of a good story that gives credibility and consistency to fiction.
A very good story that engages and challenge the reader to think and feel.
November 6, 2013
This was different from what I usually read. I thought I figured out was what happening at point but I was wrong. Surprising and different and I love it.
December 30, 2013
Writing about time travel is difficult. The author has to juggle the inherent paradoxes and the circular reasoning without losing the reader or destroying the reader's suspension of disbelief. While I applaud Margaret Millmore for trying her hand at this difficult genre, I regret to say that the resulting effort, The Dragonfly Door, was unsuccessful.
The plot was inviting; Frank Mann, living in 2013, is the only person who can use the dragonfly door to assist scientists in the future with an agricultural disease which, if left unchecked, will destroy all plant life on Earth. Unfortunately, Millmore chose to tell her story through multiple viewpoints and tenses: we first meet future scientist Clarisse in the third person, past tense; Frank relates his story in the first person, present tense; and we also look through the eyes of Selena, Dyse, and Hugo in rapid succession. By the end of the very short Chapter 6, I was already being asked to approach the plot from five different points of view; in addition, Millmore frequently changed tenses, sometimes within the same sentence. As a result, I was constantly thrown out of the story as I tried to figure out where the various characters' chapters fit on the two time-lines. For a time travel story to work for me, it has to be a rollercoaster ride, where I am so anxious to see what happens next that I don't have time to stop and try to think through the logic (or lack thereof).
Millmore made some other writing choices which irritated me and detracted from my immersion in the story. "Clarisse" was an unfortunate choice for the name of the first character introduced to the reader, as it immediately brought to mind Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs. The Dragonfly Door did not benefit from the expectations this raised. Millmore also made frequent mistakes in word usage ("undisputable" for "indisputable"; "exasperated" for "exacerbated"; "commanded" for "demanded"), and I counted a whopping 47 instances of the phrase "sort of."
It appears from Millmore's author profile that The Dragonfly Door is the first of her books to be self-published, and lack of an editor could certainly explain some of the problems identified above. I will not be reading any more of her self-published work.
I received a free copy of The Dragonfly Door from the author in exchange for an honest review.
The plot was inviting; Frank Mann, living in 2013, is the only person who can use the dragonfly door to assist scientists in the future with an agricultural disease which, if left unchecked, will destroy all plant life on Earth. Unfortunately, Millmore chose to tell her story through multiple viewpoints and tenses: we first meet future scientist Clarisse in the third person, past tense; Frank relates his story in the first person, present tense; and we also look through the eyes of Selena, Dyse, and Hugo in rapid succession. By the end of the very short Chapter 6, I was already being asked to approach the plot from five different points of view; in addition, Millmore frequently changed tenses, sometimes within the same sentence. As a result, I was constantly thrown out of the story as I tried to figure out where the various characters' chapters fit on the two time-lines. For a time travel story to work for me, it has to be a rollercoaster ride, where I am so anxious to see what happens next that I don't have time to stop and try to think through the logic (or lack thereof).
Millmore made some other writing choices which irritated me and detracted from my immersion in the story. "Clarisse" was an unfortunate choice for the name of the first character introduced to the reader, as it immediately brought to mind Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs. The Dragonfly Door did not benefit from the expectations this raised. Millmore also made frequent mistakes in word usage ("undisputable" for "indisputable"; "exasperated" for "exacerbated"; "commanded" for "demanded"), and I counted a whopping 47 instances of the phrase "sort of."
It appears from Millmore's author profile that The Dragonfly Door is the first of her books to be self-published, and lack of an editor could certainly explain some of the problems identified above. I will not be reading any more of her self-published work.
I received a free copy of The Dragonfly Door from the author in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2014
The Dragonfly Door was an intriguing novel. Frank Mann had a difficult beginning, but through circumstances ended up as a fairly well-to-do young man living off of a trust fund. Not needing to work, he really had no goals and the loss of a serious girlfriend had sent him into a downward spiral of drinking when he noticed… a dragonfly looking at him.
A dragonfly which in reality was a doorway created by two brothers through which they could travel through time. They used the door to try to correct a disaster that had befallen the world of the 22nd century. A virus was created that was destroying all plant life on the planet. They needed to collect a sample of the original virus from the 21st century to create an antidote. So they travelled back in time. Only now something had gone wrong.
What did the dragonfly have to do with Frank Mann? The dragonfly came looking for him. Somehow, the dragonfly door knew that he was the key to fixing the problem.
The Dragonfly Door was a unique take on a time travel story. Told from several points of view, it was a little confusing at times. When told from Frank’s perspective, it was told in first person point of view in present tense. When told from other people’s point of view it was written in third person point of view and mostly written in past tense, although the sentences sometimes slipped between past and present tense, sometimes in mid-sentence.
I liked the plot. I was well-developed and interesting. There were enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I do wonder though if it would really be possible to actually measure if the timeline was being altered if sometime did travel back in time. The author may have figured out the only way to actually be able to objective compare the two timelines (if they could be observed in reality).
The characters were ones that you could care about. There were some very nice heart-warming things that happened in the story (can’t tell you – spoiler) and a bit of clean romance.
If you like the science fiction/fantasy genres, I’m sure you’ll enjoy The Dragonfly Door. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
I received this book from the author via Author Alliance in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive review was not required. All thoughts are my own.
This review was first published on the Author Alliance Network at www.authoralliance.net
A dragonfly which in reality was a doorway created by two brothers through which they could travel through time. They used the door to try to correct a disaster that had befallen the world of the 22nd century. A virus was created that was destroying all plant life on the planet. They needed to collect a sample of the original virus from the 21st century to create an antidote. So they travelled back in time. Only now something had gone wrong.
What did the dragonfly have to do with Frank Mann? The dragonfly came looking for him. Somehow, the dragonfly door knew that he was the key to fixing the problem.
The Dragonfly Door was a unique take on a time travel story. Told from several points of view, it was a little confusing at times. When told from Frank’s perspective, it was told in first person point of view in present tense. When told from other people’s point of view it was written in third person point of view and mostly written in past tense, although the sentences sometimes slipped between past and present tense, sometimes in mid-sentence.
I liked the plot. I was well-developed and interesting. There were enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I do wonder though if it would really be possible to actually measure if the timeline was being altered if sometime did travel back in time. The author may have figured out the only way to actually be able to objective compare the two timelines (if they could be observed in reality).
The characters were ones that you could care about. There were some very nice heart-warming things that happened in the story (can’t tell you – spoiler) and a bit of clean romance.
If you like the science fiction/fantasy genres, I’m sure you’ll enjoy The Dragonfly Door. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
I received this book from the author via Author Alliance in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive review was not required. All thoughts are my own.
This review was first published on the Author Alliance Network at www.authoralliance.net
December 8, 2013
I must be honest and admit that I really didn’t know what I was letting myself in for when I agreed to review this book. I am not a great fan of science-fiction in general although as a child I loved Doctor Who and the notion of time travel. Margaret Millmore’s ‘The Dragonfly Door’ surprised me with its highly imaginative plot. Although it’s about travelling in time, it is a kind of science-fiction plot which sounds entirely plausible and which I found enchanting.
It did take me some time at the beginning to sort out who was who and from which time but the more I read the more it became clear as the times converged. The main character is very well portrayed and easy to relate to. Some of the secondary characters though verged almost on stereotypes. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader on the edge of their seat and the notion of going back in time having an impact on the future timeline was a concept that I loved.
This book is a fascinating read and will continue to haunt you long after you finish the last page.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews