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Broken Realms #1
Broken Realms
Mara Lantern doesn’t believe in metaphysical powers and alternate realities. That's about to change.
After a jetliner plunges into the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon, everyone survives. So why do crash investigators have a hangar full of bodies, one for each passenger except Mara? Before the plane goes down, she glimpses a new reality, one with scales and snouts, fangs and gills. She sees a boy running down the aisle carrying a ball of blue light, chased by a girl who could be her clone. By trying to help, she unwittingly unleashes dozens of creatures on an unsuspecting world and sparks a series of events that threatens her life, her family and everything she believes. To save them, she has to embrace a power she cannot comprehend.
After a jetliner plunges into the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon, everyone survives. So why do crash investigators have a hangar full of bodies, one for each passenger except Mara? Before the plane goes down, she glimpses a new reality, one with scales and snouts, fangs and gills. She sees a boy running down the aisle carrying a ball of blue light, chased by a girl who could be her clone. By trying to help, she unwittingly unleashes dozens of creatures on an unsuspecting world and sparks a series of events that threatens her life, her family and everything she believes. To save them, she has to embrace a power she cannot comprehend.
438 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2014
302 people are currently reading
1314 people want to read
About the author
D.W. Moneypenny
13 books29 followersFirst off, no one calls me D-Dubya, at least not to my face. Call me David. I went with the initials because the web address was available.
Anyway, I’m a former newspaper journalist and technology manager who lives in Portland, Oregon. I am taking a couple of years off to try my hand at writing fiction. It’s okay if you raise an eyebrow at that. Most of the people I know do.
Anyway, I’m a former newspaper journalist and technology manager who lives in Portland, Oregon. I am taking a couple of years off to try my hand at writing fiction. It’s okay if you raise an eyebrow at that. Most of the people I know do.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
October 29, 2014
(I got a copy courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)
I've debated again and again, whether I should give this book 1* or 2, so let's say it's a 1.5. I wouldn't deem it as bad per se. In fact, it dealt with themes I'm usually fascinated with: parallel worlds, and manipulating the very fabric of reality. But it was just so long. It felt so long. It felt as if it picked up by the 75% mark, which was too late to muster much interest in me, and I'll be honest: if I hadn't got it through NetGalley, if I hadn't considered myself as owing it a review (and a full read), I would havd stopped reading it days ago.
I loved the beginning: that scene in the plane, one set of people dying while another replaced them—raising from the start the question of "who is real?" Can we call people from Mara's world "the real versions", or are their "dopplegängers" just as real? It's all in the eye of the beholder, and one soon comes to realise that things aren't so easy. It's not simply about sending people back to their original realms. It's not only about the poor ones who died and were replaced by "evil" counterparts, because while some of those counterparts were indeed rotten, others were pretty decent people. And that's the key word: people. In that regard, you can't read this book with an all-or-nothing approach.
Unfortunately, the characters and the way they made their way through the story seemed off balance to me. There was a lot of talking, of explaining, something that was partly unavoidable (considering the theories behind the various worlds and how to affect them), but too often I caught myself thinking that the characters took their sweet time getting to actually tackling the problems. Again, I guess it was logical, in a way (for instance, convincing Mara of her powers in a snap of fingers would have been just... bad); only it happened in ways that made the story drag.
Maybe the premise of "every single passenger survived vs. every single passenger died", something that really grabbed me in the blurb, would have deserved more spotlight (as it was, the ones who should have cared packed up the investigation pretty quickly—and I'm talking of several people here, not just a certain person). Maybe the plot would have called for more action on the main characters' part (all the scenes at the repair shop didn't strike me as particularly useful, and I suppose they contributed in dragging things down). At this point, it's hard to tell, becaue everything's got muddled in my head. I never found enough interest to read more than a few chapters at once, despite somewhat wanting to know where the plot was going.
There are intriguing things in this novel. Alas, I just couldn't remain interested for very long, nor invested in the characters and their relationships.
I've debated again and again, whether I should give this book 1* or 2, so let's say it's a 1.5. I wouldn't deem it as bad per se. In fact, it dealt with themes I'm usually fascinated with: parallel worlds, and manipulating the very fabric of reality. But it was just so long. It felt so long. It felt as if it picked up by the 75% mark, which was too late to muster much interest in me, and I'll be honest: if I hadn't got it through NetGalley, if I hadn't considered myself as owing it a review (and a full read), I would havd stopped reading it days ago.
I loved the beginning: that scene in the plane, one set of people dying while another replaced them—raising from the start the question of "who is real?" Can we call people from Mara's world "the real versions", or are their "dopplegängers" just as real? It's all in the eye of the beholder, and one soon comes to realise that things aren't so easy. It's not simply about sending people back to their original realms. It's not only about the poor ones who died and were replaced by "evil" counterparts, because while some of those counterparts were indeed rotten, others were pretty decent people. And that's the key word: people. In that regard, you can't read this book with an all-or-nothing approach.
Unfortunately, the characters and the way they made their way through the story seemed off balance to me. There was a lot of talking, of explaining, something that was partly unavoidable (considering the theories behind the various worlds and how to affect them), but too often I caught myself thinking that the characters took their sweet time getting to actually tackling the problems. Again, I guess it was logical, in a way (for instance, convincing Mara of her powers in a snap of fingers would have been just... bad); only it happened in ways that made the story drag.
Maybe the premise of "every single passenger survived vs. every single passenger died", something that really grabbed me in the blurb, would have deserved more spotlight (as it was, the ones who should have cared packed up the investigation pretty quickly—and I'm talking of several people here, not just a certain person). Maybe the plot would have called for more action on the main characters' part (all the scenes at the repair shop didn't strike me as particularly useful, and I suppose they contributed in dragging things down). At this point, it's hard to tell, becaue everything's got muddled in my head. I never found enough interest to read more than a few chapters at once, despite somewhat wanting to know where the plot was going.
There are intriguing things in this novel. Alas, I just couldn't remain interested for very long, nor invested in the characters and their relationships.
September 22, 2014
[Disclaimer: I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley.]
2.5/5 stars
There are minor spoilers throughout this review.
The blurb about this book sounded much more interesting than the book itself turned out to be. My main problem with it was there was a giant gaping plot hole throughout the entire thing: If Mara could control reality with her brain, why didn't she just, I don't know, CONTROL IT?! You can't give a character that kind of power and not explain away the way it works. There was a lot of speculation on the part of the characters (it's nice to have non-omniscient characters, but this wasn't exactly the right way to go about it) on how exactly the powers worked, and what happened when Mara "flickered" after using them too much. There needs to be at least some level of understanding why Mara can use her powers a certain way one time but not every time. The reasoning behind that was never worked out and never even touched on. I mean, she's able to pixellate pretty much anything and blow it away. But a dragon comes at her and she can't even get it to stop moving for more than a few seconds? It doesn't make any sense.
The narration was also pretty overwrought, there was a lot of purple prose, over-description, unnecessary passages that did nothing to advance the plot or set up any bit of the story, and the descriptors were overused. Concrete rippled, bridges rippled, roads rippled, the air rippled...you get the point.
The ending itself was too open-ended. I realize this is a planned series, but if you can't wrap up anything at the end of one book, what's going to make the reader want to read the next one? I would have at least liked to know if they were going to regroup at someone's house and start trying to help the people from other dimensions get home, or even if Detective Bohannon was still involved in any way. The way he was cut out from the last 20% of the book made me wonder if he was even necessary to begin with, other than as a "normal" bystander observing the strange phenomena.
I'm giving it 2.5 out of 5 stars because of the concept. The premise was really interesting and that's why I requested to read it. It wasn't executed particularly well, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other galleys I've read lately. It needs a more thorough editing to remove a lot of the over-descriptors and repeated verbs, along with wrong words and spelling errors and plot holes. If it hadn't already been released I would have suggested more of a polishing to make it seem less like an amateur novel, but we're past that point now.
2.5/5 stars
There are minor spoilers throughout this review.
The blurb about this book sounded much more interesting than the book itself turned out to be. My main problem with it was there was a giant gaping plot hole throughout the entire thing: If Mara could control reality with her brain, why didn't she just, I don't know, CONTROL IT?! You can't give a character that kind of power and not explain away the way it works. There was a lot of speculation on the part of the characters (it's nice to have non-omniscient characters, but this wasn't exactly the right way to go about it) on how exactly the powers worked, and what happened when Mara "flickered" after using them too much. There needs to be at least some level of understanding why Mara can use her powers a certain way one time but not every time. The reasoning behind that was never worked out and never even touched on. I mean, she's able to pixellate pretty much anything and blow it away. But a dragon comes at her and she can't even get it to stop moving for more than a few seconds? It doesn't make any sense.
The narration was also pretty overwrought, there was a lot of purple prose, over-description, unnecessary passages that did nothing to advance the plot or set up any bit of the story, and the descriptors were overused. Concrete rippled, bridges rippled, roads rippled, the air rippled...you get the point.
The ending itself was too open-ended. I realize this is a planned series, but if you can't wrap up anything at the end of one book, what's going to make the reader want to read the next one? I would have at least liked to know if they were going to regroup at someone's house and start trying to help the people from other dimensions get home, or even if Detective Bohannon was still involved in any way. The way he was cut out from the last 20% of the book made me wonder if he was even necessary to begin with, other than as a "normal" bystander observing the strange phenomena.
I'm giving it 2.5 out of 5 stars because of the concept. The premise was really interesting and that's why I requested to read it. It wasn't executed particularly well, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other galleys I've read lately. It needs a more thorough editing to remove a lot of the over-descriptors and repeated verbs, along with wrong words and spelling errors and plot holes. If it hadn't already been released I would have suggested more of a polishing to make it seem less like an amateur novel, but we're past that point now.
September 15, 2014
http://librarytalker.blogspot.com/201...
Things are pretty simple for Mara. She's an only child of a mother who is very much into meditation and the power of the earth, but Mara's ok with that. She's a gadget-guru who can basically fix anything that comes her way, so she works at the local repair shop to make a little money.
Now she's on a flight that contains a teen boy running with a glowing orb being followed by Mara's doppelganger.
And then the back of the plane explodes.
Suddenly there are over 100 dead bodies, and yet no one is claiming them because they all think their loved ones miraculously survived, even if they did come back a little strange.
It turns out Mara accidentally opened portals between worlds and now doppelgangers of all of the passengers are wandering around causing problems.
So now Mara, a doppelganger named Ping, and Mara's brother from another reality must try and track down the other "passengers" and send them back to where they belong, while also keeping her alternate reality mother from getting through and destroying everything Mara loves.
Final thoughts: Talking, talking... so much talking! It's overwhelming how much talking there is. I get that there is an entire system to explain, but it felt like I was trapped with a dull professor in a metaphysics course who just droned on and on. I finished it because I wanted to see the plot through, but I really didn't enjoy myself doing it.
Things are pretty simple for Mara. She's an only child of a mother who is very much into meditation and the power of the earth, but Mara's ok with that. She's a gadget-guru who can basically fix anything that comes her way, so she works at the local repair shop to make a little money.
Now she's on a flight that contains a teen boy running with a glowing orb being followed by Mara's doppelganger.
And then the back of the plane explodes.
Suddenly there are over 100 dead bodies, and yet no one is claiming them because they all think their loved ones miraculously survived, even if they did come back a little strange.
It turns out Mara accidentally opened portals between worlds and now doppelgangers of all of the passengers are wandering around causing problems.
So now Mara, a doppelganger named Ping, and Mara's brother from another reality must try and track down the other "passengers" and send them back to where they belong, while also keeping her alternate reality mother from getting through and destroying everything Mara loves.
Final thoughts: Talking, talking... so much talking! It's overwhelming how much talking there is. I get that there is an entire system to explain, but it felt like I was trapped with a dull professor in a metaphysics course who just droned on and on. I finished it because I wanted to see the plot through, but I really didn't enjoy myself doing it.
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November 29, 2017💝 FREE on Amazon today (11/29/2017)! 💝
July 23, 2019
Well it;s certainly imaginative; but I sure hope Ms. Moneypenny gets better in the subsequent novels in this series, but I won't bother to find out. Too much descriptive detail bogs the down the flow, )e.g. the whole piece about getting a cup of coffee at a drive -thru...left turn, right turn, curbing, etc.), The detail doesn't allow the reader's imagination to enter the story. Perhaps a lack of confidence in a new writer who must maintain "control", or a journalist who gets her facts straight, "Just the facts ma'am!" So much of it reads like a travelogue of Oregon City.
And the reluctant heroine routine gets tiresome. Mara isn't stupid, and everything else about her life says she's a self-starter and a fixer.
Finally the closing scenes reminded me so much of Peter Sellers' protracted death scene as an actor in the film "The Party". He's done for, no he isn't; he' down, he gets up again; he's dead, nope not yet and on and on. To para[hrase a certain Shakespearean king, "My kingdom for an editor."
And the reluctant heroine routine gets tiresome. Mara isn't stupid, and everything else about her life says she's a self-starter and a fixer.
Finally the closing scenes reminded me so much of Peter Sellers' protracted death scene as an actor in the film "The Party". He's done for, no he isn't; he' down, he gets up again; he's dead, nope not yet and on and on. To para[hrase a certain Shakespearean king, "My kingdom for an editor."
September 20, 2017
This book has some very interesting ideas, and I had a lot of fun reading it. It is very long, and a little slow on the action at times, but I enjoyed the process that Mara went through to get where she was at the end. It's so nice to read about a character that built up her skill slowly rather than going from no skill to being able to perform perfectly. I was a little baffled why she didn't use her abilities more at the end, I could think of many things she could have done to get past the roadblocks in her way.
I also really enjoyed Ping, and found what happened to him in the end to be a very interesting twist, with lots of future possibilities.
I look forward to reading more of this series!
I also really enjoyed Ping, and found what happened to him in the end to be a very interesting twist, with lots of future possibilities.
I look forward to reading more of this series!
February 15, 2019
The blurb for the book drew me in but the book itself fell flat for me, reading it was like sitting in a dentist chair having a tooth pulled, the story dragged and dragged but never seemed to go anywhere, the characters were on the boring side and I'm still looking for the plot.
I was really hoping to like this story but it did not live up to the blurb.
I was really hoping to like this story but it did not live up to the blurb.
June 23, 2018
This YA urban fantasy is just a lot of fun from the beginning. It's got a world threatening menace-tied-to-family drama and a spunky teen aged heroine.
Don't overthink it, just go along for the ride.
Don't overthink it, just go along for the ride.
December 27, 2022
A Plane's people disappear, powers of individuals caused this, too much effort explaining how all these people's powers do and do not work ... excessive dnf Obtained from Amazon on September 9, 2016.
May 9, 2025
Diverse Universe
While the imagination was big the grammatical errors were small. The author does a good job in transitions and working the characters in unique ways. The author has done a good job and I would read more from them.
While the imagination was big the grammatical errors were small. The author does a good job in transitions and working the characters in unique ways. The author has done a good job and I would read more from them.
July 22, 2017
Fascinating book
This book is absolutely a page turner. I cannot wait to read the next one in the series. Magic and physics combined make a very interesting worthwhile book.
This book is absolutely a page turner. I cannot wait to read the next one in the series. Magic and physics combined make a very interesting worthwhile book.
January 31, 2018
Cute
Very cool idea for a book! I love the thought that there could be endless alternate realities! I am glad I read this book.
Very cool idea for a book! I love the thought that there could be endless alternate realities! I am glad I read this book.
March 14, 2018
Great fantasy book. I would recommend it to anyone!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2018
Blandly enjoyable, but not enough to keep me going in the series.
March 15, 2019
Couldn't even get started.
June 19, 2019
Too much telling.
November 12, 2019
John Varley's 1983 book, Millenium, is about passengers in a jet plane, which is about to crash, being body snatched and replaced by dead bodies from the future. Is this book is an homage?
October 25, 2024
Exciting
Never knew what was coming next. Great characters. Some good and some very, very bad.
Ending with lots of room for more creative action.
Never knew what was coming next. Great characters. Some good and some very, very bad.
Ending with lots of room for more creative action.
March 9, 2025
She she she
Starts off okay, but heroine isn't really likeable but then many sentences in a row start with she and ending battles were boring.
Starts off okay, but heroine isn't really likeable but then many sentences in a row start with she and ending battles were boring.
August 14, 2014
This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Broken Realms is a brilliant science fiction novel and first installment of The Chronicles of Mara Lantern by D. W. Moneypenny. Set in present day Oregon it deals with metaphysical ideas and bizarre creatures – a very intriguing read.
Mara Lantern is a young adult who has left school to work in a gadget repair shop where her amazing natural talent for restoring machinery is put to good use. At the commencement of the book she is being driven to the airport by her New Age obsessed mother in order to fly out to San Francisco to visit her father. Once the plane is airborne it is clear there is something terribly wrong. Bright blue light flashes throughout the aircraft and the passengers around Mara appear to be distorting: growing fangs and snouts, and changing eye colour. What is even stranger is a redheaded boy is running down the aisle closely pursued by a clone of Mara.
In an attempt at an emergency landing, the plane crashes into the Columbia River – a crash impossible to survive – however everyone does. All the passengers and crew are pulled out of the river unharmed; all except Mara who is strangely found unconscious on the pavement with a head wound.
Detective Daniel Bohannon is assigned to the case investigating the cause of the crash, but when some of the survivors start displaying super-human or animalistic traits it becomes clear this was no ordinary situation.
Whilst the investigation continues, Mara begins to deal with what she saw on the plane. With the help of a fellow survivor, Ping, and the redheaded boy, Sam (who claims he is her brother) she begins to learn that her world, her life and human existence in general is not all she believed it to be.
Although Broken Realms is accurately described as a science fiction and fantasy novel there were times, particularly during the police investigations, that it also felt a little like a crime thriller. There is nothing particularly bad about that but to begin with it was as though there were two different genres competing with each other depending on which character point of view was being read.
What helped to make this book so great were the excellent writing skills of D. W. Moneypenny. It was written so clearly that vivid images came to mind whilst reading. The pace of the narrative was fairly quick and at no point did it ever stop being exciting.
Another good thing (admittedly others may not see it as such) was that there were no romantic attachments between any of the characters to detract from the main storyline. This meant the novel was completely focused on the plot without any unnecessary interruptions.
Broken Realms is a highly recommended book for science fiction and fantasy lovers. It does, however, leave the reader wanting to know what is going to happen next. So now the wait for the next book in The Chronicles of Mara Lantern begins.
Broken Realms is a brilliant science fiction novel and first installment of The Chronicles of Mara Lantern by D. W. Moneypenny. Set in present day Oregon it deals with metaphysical ideas and bizarre creatures – a very intriguing read.
Mara Lantern is a young adult who has left school to work in a gadget repair shop where her amazing natural talent for restoring machinery is put to good use. At the commencement of the book she is being driven to the airport by her New Age obsessed mother in order to fly out to San Francisco to visit her father. Once the plane is airborne it is clear there is something terribly wrong. Bright blue light flashes throughout the aircraft and the passengers around Mara appear to be distorting: growing fangs and snouts, and changing eye colour. What is even stranger is a redheaded boy is running down the aisle closely pursued by a clone of Mara.
In an attempt at an emergency landing, the plane crashes into the Columbia River – a crash impossible to survive – however everyone does. All the passengers and crew are pulled out of the river unharmed; all except Mara who is strangely found unconscious on the pavement with a head wound.
Detective Daniel Bohannon is assigned to the case investigating the cause of the crash, but when some of the survivors start displaying super-human or animalistic traits it becomes clear this was no ordinary situation.
Whilst the investigation continues, Mara begins to deal with what she saw on the plane. With the help of a fellow survivor, Ping, and the redheaded boy, Sam (who claims he is her brother) she begins to learn that her world, her life and human existence in general is not all she believed it to be.
Although Broken Realms is accurately described as a science fiction and fantasy novel there were times, particularly during the police investigations, that it also felt a little like a crime thriller. There is nothing particularly bad about that but to begin with it was as though there were two different genres competing with each other depending on which character point of view was being read.
What helped to make this book so great were the excellent writing skills of D. W. Moneypenny. It was written so clearly that vivid images came to mind whilst reading. The pace of the narrative was fairly quick and at no point did it ever stop being exciting.
Another good thing (admittedly others may not see it as such) was that there were no romantic attachments between any of the characters to detract from the main storyline. This meant the novel was completely focused on the plot without any unnecessary interruptions.
Broken Realms is a highly recommended book for science fiction and fantasy lovers. It does, however, leave the reader wanting to know what is going to happen next. So now the wait for the next book in The Chronicles of Mara Lantern begins.
October 4, 2014
I received this book Free from Net Galley. My teen daughter chose this book for me to read, because she liked the synopsis of the book. She never finished this book.
I enjoyed the plot of this book. A passenger plane crashes in the water, and everyone inside survives, or at least they think they do.
Mara is a passenger on the plane. Before it goes down, she sees a blue strobe light in the inside cabin, a boy holding the strange light and an invisible something grabbing the boy. She chases the boy wondering what is going wrong, when she turns around, she sees herself, the plane then explodes in the back, and she is found on the dock of the lake near the wreckage of the plane.
She wakes up in a hospital days later and does not know what happened. She finds out that everyone survived the crash, but for some reason, they are all acting weird. Her neighbor, who would not talk to her, is now super nice. The neighbor is also taking care of the red headed kid on the plane, who says he is her brother.
Apparently when the plane crashed, so did two different realities. Two sets of the same bodies were found that day, one alive and the other dead. The FBI is involved and is trying to figure out what happened, Sarah is trying to figure out what happened and guess what, Sarah finds out that she has powers, powers that can control time, and space, but she does not know how to use them.
She must set her world right before anything else that is bad can happen to her, or other people, but she does not know how. She must find help, and learn how, and soon before time runs out.
I thought this book just ok. It was very long winded in some parts and the first half of the book was not very entertaining. I thought that this book could have been condensed to make it drag less.
I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.
I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.
I enjoyed the plot of this book. A passenger plane crashes in the water, and everyone inside survives, or at least they think they do.
Mara is a passenger on the plane. Before it goes down, she sees a blue strobe light in the inside cabin, a boy holding the strange light and an invisible something grabbing the boy. She chases the boy wondering what is going wrong, when she turns around, she sees herself, the plane then explodes in the back, and she is found on the dock of the lake near the wreckage of the plane.
She wakes up in a hospital days later and does not know what happened. She finds out that everyone survived the crash, but for some reason, they are all acting weird. Her neighbor, who would not talk to her, is now super nice. The neighbor is also taking care of the red headed kid on the plane, who says he is her brother.
Apparently when the plane crashed, so did two different realities. Two sets of the same bodies were found that day, one alive and the other dead. The FBI is involved and is trying to figure out what happened, Sarah is trying to figure out what happened and guess what, Sarah finds out that she has powers, powers that can control time, and space, but she does not know how to use them.
She must set her world right before anything else that is bad can happen to her, or other people, but she does not know how. She must find help, and learn how, and soon before time runs out.
I thought this book just ok. It was very long winded in some parts and the first half of the book was not very entertaining. I thought that this book could have been condensed to make it drag less.
I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.
I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.
April 19, 2015
At the time I am reviewing this book my Kindle app says that I am 51% complete.
I will start with a disclaimer.... I have a lot of stress in my life at the moment and maybe its keeping me from truly shutting off and enjoying it... but I CAN'T get into this book.
I'm not opposed to the notion of parallel universes, but I don't buy into them. I find that some stories have done this with a great deal of success, including one of my favorite books of all time. what I keep getting hung up on is that I'm expected to believe:
1: that after building a cell phone that can talk to the dead, witnessing the crash described in the summaries in all the weirdness that was left out of the summaries, seeing the dead body of them while talking to one of the "clones," being attacked by a slug person, being attacked by a floating electrical skeleton that wasn't real, blowing two monsters away with a toothbrush, and being nearly sucked into a freaking portal.... she STILL refuses to believe weird shit is going on....
2: that even though parallel universes resulted in humans that lay eggs and spit acid, humans that can climb up walls by shoving their fingers into solid concrete, and, most absurdly, human F+#$ING SPIDER BATS.... that despite all of that... history progressed closely enough in every universe to fill the same plane across every universe at the exact same time..... I will not waste my time explaining how ridiculous that notion is....
3: that there are literal walking gods called progenitors, who are capable of bending reality to meet their slightest whims... and the main character happens to be one.... and takes the entirety of what I've read so far to still NOT believe in what's going on... after using a piece of wood as a cell phone...
I would like to say that I'll finish this book... I hate leaving stories unfinished... but seeing as to how my world revolves around grad school and I only really read at work... I just don't see that happening.
I will start with a disclaimer.... I have a lot of stress in my life at the moment and maybe its keeping me from truly shutting off and enjoying it... but I CAN'T get into this book.
I'm not opposed to the notion of parallel universes, but I don't buy into them. I find that some stories have done this with a great deal of success, including one of my favorite books of all time. what I keep getting hung up on is that I'm expected to believe:
1: that after building a cell phone that can talk to the dead, witnessing the crash described in the summaries in all the weirdness that was left out of the summaries, seeing the dead body of them while talking to one of the "clones," being attacked by a slug person, being attacked by a floating electrical skeleton that wasn't real, blowing two monsters away with a toothbrush, and being nearly sucked into a freaking portal.... she STILL refuses to believe weird shit is going on....
2: that even though parallel universes resulted in humans that lay eggs and spit acid, humans that can climb up walls by shoving their fingers into solid concrete, and, most absurdly, human F+#$ING SPIDER BATS.... that despite all of that... history progressed closely enough in every universe to fill the same plane across every universe at the exact same time..... I will not waste my time explaining how ridiculous that notion is....
3: that there are literal walking gods called progenitors, who are capable of bending reality to meet their slightest whims... and the main character happens to be one.... and takes the entirety of what I've read so far to still NOT believe in what's going on... after using a piece of wood as a cell phone...
I would like to say that I'll finish this book... I hate leaving stories unfinished... but seeing as to how my world revolves around grad school and I only really read at work... I just don't see that happening.
September 21, 2014
I received a free ebook of this title through NetGalley.
This book has a ton of potential, but fell a short of my expectations.
The good: I like that this is the first of a series, as there are a ton of places the author can go with where things left off, and the whole idea of a multi-verse lends itself to plot twists galore. Also, no love triangle - or really even a love interest! Hooray!
The author gives a huge shout-out to Brian Greene, whose books I love! If this book made you more interested in learning more about current theories about the universe, I highly recommend that you check out Greene's books: The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality.
The meh: The way the beginning of the book was structured, with the narration switching between Mara and Detective Bohannon was very confusing and broke up the pace of the plot. Also, since they were both in the figuring-things-out stage, the switch in narrator didn't add much to the reader's knowledge. If there are going to be multiple points of view in a set-up like this one, I'm firmly of the opinion that at least one of them should have an idea of what's going on and be responsible for foreshadowing future events. While Detective Bohannon does serve that purpose much later on in the book, the earlier chapters just muddy the waters without really moving things forward.
Although I do enjoy the lack of a love-triangle, one thing that struck me is that there isn't a lot of depth to Mara as a female. I feel like you could change "Mara" to "Matt" and switch the pronouns and it wouldn't really make much of a difference, which is disappointing. I think there are a lot of places where purposefully androgynous characters work, but here it felt like it was more a lack of connection with the character than a decision that the author made.
This book has a ton of potential, but fell a short of my expectations.
The good: I like that this is the first of a series, as there are a ton of places the author can go with where things left off, and the whole idea of a multi-verse lends itself to plot twists galore. Also, no love triangle - or really even a love interest! Hooray!
The author gives a huge shout-out to Brian Greene, whose books I love! If this book made you more interested in learning more about current theories about the universe, I highly recommend that you check out Greene's books: The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality.
The meh: The way the beginning of the book was structured, with the narration switching between Mara and Detective Bohannon was very confusing and broke up the pace of the plot. Also, since they were both in the figuring-things-out stage, the switch in narrator didn't add much to the reader's knowledge. If there are going to be multiple points of view in a set-up like this one, I'm firmly of the opinion that at least one of them should have an idea of what's going on and be responsible for foreshadowing future events. While Detective Bohannon does serve that purpose much later on in the book, the earlier chapters just muddy the waters without really moving things forward.
Although I do enjoy the lack of a love-triangle, one thing that struck me is that there isn't a lot of depth to Mara as a female. I feel like you could change "Mara" to "Matt" and switch the pronouns and it wouldn't really make much of a difference, which is disappointing. I think there are a lot of places where purposefully androgynous characters work, but here it felt like it was more a lack of connection with the character than a decision that the author made.
August 5, 2014
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. – Albert Einstein
The world is not always as it seems . . . especially when worlds collide. And as Mara Lantern is about to learn, reality has a tendency of changing your outlook on, as Douglas Adams would say, “Life, the Universe and Everything.” For when a boy with a bright blue light in his hands runs past her on Flight 559 to San Francisco, Mara’s world intersects with a myriad of other Earths, with devastating consequences.
When Flight 559 falls into the Willamette River, amazingly all the passengers survive, though the plane is broken to pieces and upside down in the river. But it is soon clear that things are not as they seem. And what happens next could change not only reality as we know it on this world, but on every world, every reality, that is, was or every will be.
D.W. Moneypenny has written a wonderful book interspersing cutting edge scientific thought with well-developed metaphysical thought. When Mara meets Mr. Ping, her formerly hateful neighbor who was also on the flight, the change in his attitude is at first confusing, and then terrifying. For Mr. Ping isn’t really Mr. Ping – nor are any of the other passengers on the flight. Well, except for Mara herself. For when Mara attempted to rescue the boy being chased through the plane, she sends her own doppleganger to her death, falling from the plane as it falls from the sky. Science and miracles abound in a story of truly Broken Realms.
This is a first in what will apparently be a series, and I have put it on my “when I get to it” list to continue the story at a later time.
I received this book in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
The world is not always as it seems . . . especially when worlds collide. And as Mara Lantern is about to learn, reality has a tendency of changing your outlook on, as Douglas Adams would say, “Life, the Universe and Everything.” For when a boy with a bright blue light in his hands runs past her on Flight 559 to San Francisco, Mara’s world intersects with a myriad of other Earths, with devastating consequences.
When Flight 559 falls into the Willamette River, amazingly all the passengers survive, though the plane is broken to pieces and upside down in the river. But it is soon clear that things are not as they seem. And what happens next could change not only reality as we know it on this world, but on every world, every reality, that is, was or every will be.
D.W. Moneypenny has written a wonderful book interspersing cutting edge scientific thought with well-developed metaphysical thought. When Mara meets Mr. Ping, her formerly hateful neighbor who was also on the flight, the change in his attitude is at first confusing, and then terrifying. For Mr. Ping isn’t really Mr. Ping – nor are any of the other passengers on the flight. Well, except for Mara herself. For when Mara attempted to rescue the boy being chased through the plane, she sends her own doppleganger to her death, falling from the plane as it falls from the sky. Science and miracles abound in a story of truly Broken Realms.
This is a first in what will apparently be a series, and I have put it on my “when I get to it” list to continue the story at a later time.
I received this book in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
August 2, 2014
Broken Realms (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern #1) by D.W. Moneypenny
Broken Realms (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern #1) by D.W. Moneypenny is one of those books whose subject has been written about a great deal and you wonder how can the author make the story new and interesting. Well, I was extremely impressed with how the author had a refreshing take on the subject, not just regurgitating the same old thing. Moneypenny explained things in a way that everyone could understand.
The author did a great job at helping the reader feel a part of the story by giving such a vivid description of everything. The characters were believable and very interesting. I really like that Mara was such a strong lead female character. It was great to see that she was not this bubble head and that she was inquisitive after a bit of prodding from Mr.Ping. I loved Mr. Ping. I really wish I had a neighbor like him. He was very patient with Mara and even though he dispersed at the worst times, he truly never left her; he was always there, being a true friend.
This was an imaginative and inspired story that will be a great read for any Fantasy lover. The author‘s writing style and unique ability to fill the characters with such appeal enables the reader to immerse themselves into the story and it allows the reader to appreciate the story.
The books intensity increased at a good pace. It allowed for the readers anticipation and excitement to develop steadily.
Definite must read!
4.3 Stars
*I won this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaway. In no way has this influenced my rating or opinion of this book.*
Broken Realms (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern #1) by D.W. Moneypenny is one of those books whose subject has been written about a great deal and you wonder how can the author make the story new and interesting. Well, I was extremely impressed with how the author had a refreshing take on the subject, not just regurgitating the same old thing. Moneypenny explained things in a way that everyone could understand.
The author did a great job at helping the reader feel a part of the story by giving such a vivid description of everything. The characters were believable and very interesting. I really like that Mara was such a strong lead female character. It was great to see that she was not this bubble head and that she was inquisitive after a bit of prodding from Mr.Ping. I loved Mr. Ping. I really wish I had a neighbor like him. He was very patient with Mara and even though he dispersed at the worst times, he truly never left her; he was always there, being a true friend.
This was an imaginative and inspired story that will be a great read for any Fantasy lover. The author‘s writing style and unique ability to fill the characters with such appeal enables the reader to immerse themselves into the story and it allows the reader to appreciate the story.
The books intensity increased at a good pace. It allowed for the readers anticipation and excitement to develop steadily.
Definite must read!
4.3 Stars
*I won this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaway. In no way has this influenced my rating or opinion of this book.*
July 29, 2014
I'm breaking this review down into a few key categories to help me sort out my thoughts.
Full disclosure:
• I found this author on Story Cartel. As such, I received a free copy of this book.
• I don't normally read Fantasy. However, two factors made me curious: the mataphysical category and the author's last name. Seriously, who could resist "Moneypenny"?
Pre-reading thoughts:
• Cover art: well done. I loved the font and the view of the heroine that didn’t give me preconceived impressions.
Author information:
• Goes by David, not D.W. Lives in Portland where a large part of the story is set.
• Former newspaper journalist and IT manager.
The Story:
• Broken Realms definitely fits the defined genre.
• The narrative had an easy-going style. New concepts were explained without interruption of the story line.
• The narrative setup could be viewed as a bit long if you were not aware that this was intended to set up a series. That was made clear in the title so my expectations were managed. I can see this storyline sustaining a trilogy.
• The pace was on point. It never let up.
Characters:
• The characters were credible. The main characters were sufficiently detailed in terms of key characteristics, mannerisms, etc. a
• For future novels, I would like to go deeper with Mara, Ping, Sam, and Detective Bohannon. I want to know what made them the way they are today—which is a good sign—I was intrigued!
QotD (Question of the Day): Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would recommend this book for fans of this genre.
August 5, 2014
The synopsis of Broken Realms draws you in and intrigues you, so it's not surprise that the novel itself hooks you from the first page, unable to stop reading, and keeps you full of intrigue the entire length of the book.
Broken Realms is very fresh, and very slick. The one thing that didn't really do it for me 100% was all the science and the scientific explanations. Don't get me wrong, it was intriguing, and it was interesting and it fit the story well and obviously it had to be explained, but I felt like some things where too long winded and some where explained multiple times. There was too much and these parts dragged a bit.
Broken Realms sets up the next book in the series quite nicely, and it promises to be a series full of fantasy with plenty going on.
Another mark against it so far, however, is the lack of depth to the characters, I couldn't quite make a connection to Mara and she was kind of a bit ridiculous more than once!
The whole different realms, and people from the different realms having different powers and being able to do cool stuff was a nice aspect that kept the book engaging as you try to work out what power this person has right before it's revealed! It'll be interesting to see more of this in coming books!
Broken Realms, while being intriguing, at times funny, and entertaining, can also drag in places and it's a bit of a heavier read than I thought it would be with the slog of scientific information bogging it down in places. All in all, it's an interesting start to a new series, that perhaps has a few kinks to work out.
Broken Realms is very fresh, and very slick. The one thing that didn't really do it for me 100% was all the science and the scientific explanations. Don't get me wrong, it was intriguing, and it was interesting and it fit the story well and obviously it had to be explained, but I felt like some things where too long winded and some where explained multiple times. There was too much and these parts dragged a bit.
Broken Realms sets up the next book in the series quite nicely, and it promises to be a series full of fantasy with plenty going on.
Another mark against it so far, however, is the lack of depth to the characters, I couldn't quite make a connection to Mara and she was kind of a bit ridiculous more than once!
The whole different realms, and people from the different realms having different powers and being able to do cool stuff was a nice aspect that kept the book engaging as you try to work out what power this person has right before it's revealed! It'll be interesting to see more of this in coming books!
Broken Realms, while being intriguing, at times funny, and entertaining, can also drag in places and it's a bit of a heavier read than I thought it would be with the slog of scientific information bogging it down in places. All in all, it's an interesting start to a new series, that perhaps has a few kinks to work out.
August 1, 2014
"Broken Realms" by D.W. Moneypenny is a fabulous adventure spanning multiple worlds. Mara Lantern is on a turbulent plane ride when a blue light envelopes the cabin. She believes she's sleeping or hallucinating, because what she sees--another version of herself, lights flashing, strange creatures replacing the passengers--doesn't see real. The plane crashes in the lake and passengers are pulled from the lake. Everything seems business as usual until strange things start to happen and Mara learns her life will never be the same again.
I liked "Broken Realms", primarily because it reminded me of an episode of X-files, following the investigation of the crash with Special Agent Ethan Suter of the FBI and Detective Bohannon of the Portland Police Department. Ditto the creatures from other realities. While I realize this is the first of a trilogy and a little leeway should be given to the length of the story to set up the premise of the series, I found the characters a little one-dimensional for my liking.
In "Broken Realms", Moneypenny has set up an incredible fantasy universe that will have no problem supporting sequels as Mara, her Miyagi-esque mentor, Ping, and her brother from another dimension mother, Sam, track down the remaining Flight 559 passengers and save them (and the world) by sending them back to their respective realities,
Note: I was gifted an eCopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked "Broken Realms", primarily because it reminded me of an episode of X-files, following the investigation of the crash with Special Agent Ethan Suter of the FBI and Detective Bohannon of the Portland Police Department. Ditto the creatures from other realities. While I realize this is the first of a trilogy and a little leeway should be given to the length of the story to set up the premise of the series, I found the characters a little one-dimensional for my liking.
In "Broken Realms", Moneypenny has set up an incredible fantasy universe that will have no problem supporting sequels as Mara, her Miyagi-esque mentor, Ping, and her brother from another dimension mother, Sam, track down the remaining Flight 559 passengers and save them (and the world) by sending them back to their respective realities,
Note: I was gifted an eCopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 21, 2015
Hmm... Well, I think I just had high expectations. It sounded so good from the blurb. And the concept was so good. I really thought it was going to be great. But it just fell a little short. There are a few bothers for me. The main characters- Mara- is given a serious power, controlling things with her brain. And yet, she can't control it. Umm... how, why, where, when? I wanted some of that explained. And what is the flickering? I want an explanation with why Mara can use her powers sometimes, but not others. And another. I like a good description, but I felt like these were too long. Some things weren't necessary to be there. I couldn't get the book to pick up a pace for me. I usually read one, and only one, book at a time. But I kept putting this one down and picking it back up, trying to restart. And at the end, are we going to see the other people from the other dimension? I know, I really wanted this book to be awesome. I love parallel universes and magical powers, and there's some great potential to go with. I would love to see some of the problems here fixed in book two. I am on the fence if I will pick up book two. But I'm on the fence about a lot of things LOL so 3 PAWS!!
August 2, 2014
I've never been scared of flying, but now???
I'll never look at a plane the same way again.
1st chapter wasn't appealing, it didn't grab my attention,still holding out for more, hope the book has something to keep me hooked.
Chapter 2 is very hard to visualise, too many things happening. The action is just beginning.
Chapter 3 - I'm confused.
Chapter 4 - Thank god I'm not the only one confused, Mara is too.
Chapters 5-6 The plot thickens.
Chapter 7 - What is it with crystals?
Chapter s 8-10 I beginning to see a pattern and starting to be intrigued by the story line and am eager to find where it is going...
Been me up Scotty!! I ain't coming back for a while.
Chapter 38 Now we are getting somewhere.
I'm finished, it was a bit of a heavy read that left me with a migraine (I often give myself migraines from reading too much and lack of sleep due to staying up late to finish a good book)
It is weirdly entertaining.
It is/was an exhilarating ride, full of action.
The story line is like no other I have encountered.
Sign me up for the next book... I've swallowed the hook, line and sinker...
I'll never look at a plane the same way again.
1st chapter wasn't appealing, it didn't grab my attention,still holding out for more, hope the book has something to keep me hooked.
Chapter 2 is very hard to visualise, too many things happening. The action is just beginning.
Chapter 3 - I'm confused.
Chapter 4 - Thank god I'm not the only one confused, Mara is too.
Chapters 5-6 The plot thickens.
Chapter 7 - What is it with crystals?
Chapter s 8-10 I beginning to see a pattern and starting to be intrigued by the story line and am eager to find where it is going...
Been me up Scotty!! I ain't coming back for a while.
Chapter 38 Now we are getting somewhere.
I'm finished, it was a bit of a heavy read that left me with a migraine (I often give myself migraines from reading too much and lack of sleep due to staying up late to finish a good book)
It is weirdly entertaining.
It is/was an exhilarating ride, full of action.
The story line is like no other I have encountered.
Sign me up for the next book... I've swallowed the hook, line and sinker...
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