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Between the Lanterns
In the cold and emotionless modern world of fake food and automatic life, two young people from different backgrounds don't really fit in; probably because they still cling to silly old traditions like kindness and good manners. One night, these two strangers collide while walking in the street during a sudden blackout. August Lurie and Samantha Vann soon find they are perfect for each other and fall deeply in love. Through their life together, August and Sam will celebrate many triumphs, yet also face numerous obstacles that threaten to tear them apart. After the loving couple builds a quirky wooden automaton together, they find their lives are forever changed by little Woodrow and the incredibly advanced tech that powers the strange robot. But, despite the advancements August has created, will Samantha's religious beliefs prevent the possibility of their eternal love?
Between the Lanterns is a futuristic love story set in Alabama, where two young people resist the pervasive apathy that has spread over the rest of the world. Together, August and Samantha try to reclaim some of Earth's lost humanity through real food, love, and a wooden robot.
Between the Lanterns is a futuristic love story set in Alabama, where two young people resist the pervasive apathy that has spread over the rest of the world. Together, August and Samantha try to reclaim some of Earth's lost humanity through real food, love, and a wooden robot.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2016
5 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 5, 2016
In a not too distant future technology has spread and taken over like kudzu. People rely on it for everything, including tasteless food. Two people, August and Samantha, meet by happenstance and quickly fall into a love so sweet it might cause cavities. They are determined to overcome any challenge they are faced with together, all while reverting back to as many tried and true methods as possible, including cooking real food. An entertaining and engaging love story with just a small touch of science fiction.
September 11, 2016
Between the Lanterns is an entertaining, refreshing take on dystopian novels. It has lots of elements you'd expect to find: soulless, all powerful corporation? Check. Nifty little details about the new state of society? Check. Overarching social commentary? Check. But Between the Lanterns is different.
Dystopian stories are often populated by cynical characters who might prevail, but somewhere along the way they lose a part of themselves. Not so for Sam and August, the couple at the heart of the story. Heart being the operative word. This story has a lot of it. Sam, a restaurant owner, and August, a nascent tech genius, meet "between the lanterns" on a street in their town and soon start a sweet romance.
In each other, they've discovered a rare sort of person in this near-future world where everyone has become shallow, materialistic and uncaring. Sam and August are both determined to live authentic lives, filled with kindness, real food and real connections. This leads to a sweet love story that J.M Bush uses to show how emotionally impoverished almost everyone else has become. Terrible things happen to Sam and August. I wanted to scream at them for their stupidity and naiveté, but through it all, their love keeps them buoyant. With some clever storytelling, J.M. Bush even has our heroes help the world at large regain part of its lost soul.
Dystopian stories are often populated by cynical characters who might prevail, but somewhere along the way they lose a part of themselves. Not so for Sam and August, the couple at the heart of the story. Heart being the operative word. This story has a lot of it. Sam, a restaurant owner, and August, a nascent tech genius, meet "between the lanterns" on a street in their town and soon start a sweet romance.
In each other, they've discovered a rare sort of person in this near-future world where everyone has become shallow, materialistic and uncaring. Sam and August are both determined to live authentic lives, filled with kindness, real food and real connections. This leads to a sweet love story that J.M Bush uses to show how emotionally impoverished almost everyone else has become. Terrible things happen to Sam and August. I wanted to scream at them for their stupidity and naiveté, but through it all, their love keeps them buoyant. With some clever storytelling, J.M. Bush even has our heroes help the world at large regain part of its lost soul.
August 21, 2016
I really loved this book. It was futuristic and romantic. The science fiction was light enough for me to easily follow and the love story was realistic, with ups and downs, tragedy and joy. I loved that the ending was unexpected and unpredictable. The characters were likable and the descriptions of the characters and places made picturing the story easy and very enjoyable. I highly recommend this book.
August 27, 2016
Great read! Between the lanterns was a love story with a bit of sci fi thrown in the mix. A realistic love story that has you connecting in many ways to both August and Samantha and the ups and downs in their lives. Very easy to read and identify with, definitely worth a read!
December 22, 2017
I'd rate this more of a 3.5 (but you know, rounding) mostly because it gets pretty slow going in the middle.
Between the Lanterns is a Southern love story set in a futuristic, heartless, soulless New Dothan. As in really heartless and really soulless, where everyone is all teched out and thinking only of themselves. Yet in the midst of these near-robots, Samantha - a cook who wants people to eat Real Food instead of Nutricator slop - meets August - a tinkerer who longs for the good old days where people sat down and talked and were kind to each other - between the lanterns on West Main Street.
The soullessness of the society grates on you after a while, and you're left wondering if people are really capable of being that heartless. (Maybe they are, but probably not in the quantities you meet in this book). The warm, kindly, openness of Sam and August rubs off on you too, and you start to wonder how these two got to be who they are because it hardly seems like there are any good role models for them to follow after.
The middle of the book (somewhere around the 1-hour mark) gets a little draggy. Things happen and things happen and more things happen. It doesn't look like the book is heading anywhere fast. Then Bush gets a little sneaky by throwing in a medical diagnosis and NOT TELLING YOU WHO IT RELATES TO. Aha! Something is about to happen! And the story picks up again from there as he keeps you guessing for pages until the denouement. (And then it's heart-wrenching, of course.)
In the midst of all that, Between the Lanterns plays briefly with the themes of ascension and explores the concept of the soul. Is our consciousness equal to our soul? Is there a heaven? What happens if we finally manage to upload our consciousness into tech? Do we get to live forever?
I liked the second half of the book more than the first. The tension is heightened, and it also feels more thoughtful as the Luries figure out a balance between Sam's severe dislike of tech and August's constant tinkering with it. The first half, especially the second quarter, is very much a setting up phase--an explanation of all the things that need to happen to bring them to the right emotional mood for the rest of the events that follow. (Or maybe I don't tend to like Southern stories all that much, and there was not enough other stuff to distract me from it.)
All in all, Between the Lanterns is worth pushing through, mostly because I liked the ending.
Between the Lanterns is a Southern love story set in a futuristic, heartless, soulless New Dothan. As in really heartless and really soulless, where everyone is all teched out and thinking only of themselves. Yet in the midst of these near-robots, Samantha - a cook who wants people to eat Real Food instead of Nutricator slop - meets August - a tinkerer who longs for the good old days where people sat down and talked and were kind to each other - between the lanterns on West Main Street.
The soullessness of the society grates on you after a while, and you're left wondering if people are really capable of being that heartless. (Maybe they are, but probably not in the quantities you meet in this book). The warm, kindly, openness of Sam and August rubs off on you too, and you start to wonder how these two got to be who they are because it hardly seems like there are any good role models for them to follow after.
The middle of the book (somewhere around the 1-hour mark) gets a little draggy. Things happen and things happen and more things happen. It doesn't look like the book is heading anywhere fast. Then Bush gets a little sneaky by throwing in a medical diagnosis and NOT TELLING YOU WHO IT RELATES TO. Aha! Something is about to happen! And the story picks up again from there as he keeps you guessing for pages until the denouement. (And then it's heart-wrenching, of course.)
In the midst of all that, Between the Lanterns plays briefly with the themes of ascension and explores the concept of the soul. Is our consciousness equal to our soul? Is there a heaven? What happens if we finally manage to upload our consciousness into tech? Do we get to live forever?
I liked the second half of the book more than the first. The tension is heightened, and it also feels more thoughtful as the Luries figure out a balance between Sam's severe dislike of tech and August's constant tinkering with it. The first half, especially the second quarter, is very much a setting up phase--an explanation of all the things that need to happen to bring them to the right emotional mood for the rest of the events that follow. (Or maybe I don't tend to like Southern stories all that much, and there was not enough other stuff to distract me from it.)
All in all, Between the Lanterns is worth pushing through, mostly because I liked the ending.
July 25, 2016
I loved everything about this book! It was a quick, easy read that had me laugh and cry and just pulled me into the main characters life and world. It was an emotional rollercoaster I was not quite prepared for but couldn't get enough of! It was easy to believe and imagine our future as J.M Bush depicted it and I loved how he paints a picture of a world that becomes totally dependent on artificial foods and technological advances and how this effects the future of our diseases and ultimately our character. It made me question the effectiveness of our advances and where they ultimately are leading us. His story made me believe in love, hope and faith and stirred up a craving for some homemade meatloaf!
August 29, 2016
4.5 Stars
This was a cool book. I really liked the "robots" and Woodrow was so cool. The story is set in my hometown and that was cool, knowing the locations. The love story is a good one, if just a little bit cheesy at times (not in a bad way though) I actually teared up at the end which is rare for me. I love reading good books by fellow indie authors and this is one of em!
This was a cool book. I really liked the "robots" and Woodrow was so cool. The story is set in my hometown and that was cool, knowing the locations. The love story is a good one, if just a little bit cheesy at times (not in a bad way though) I actually teared up at the end which is rare for me. I love reading good books by fellow indie authors and this is one of em!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews