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Ming
Updated cover edition of ISBN 9780990817703
In the darkness of the cosmos, the voice of destiny calls to us from another dimension …
From opposite worlds, Ming and Murmur are linked across time and space: one called to heal and the other to corrupt. Guided by their fourth-dimensional counterparts, these two extraordinary individuals are led down a long and complex existence towards a predestined confrontation between the ultimate cure and the ultimate disease.
Caught in the celestial current and exposed to the harsh realities of a mortal universe, Ming must shoulder the burden of love, loss, hope, and suffering, as she reaches across the galaxy to meet her destiny.
Open your eyes to a universe unlike any other and immerse yourself in this fast-paced reality-bending novel. A genre-defying whirlwind, author R.L. Gray reimagines the spiraling cosmos as an intricate, layered, purposeful macrocosm in which the forces of good and evil dance across the celestial plane. Begin your journey through time and space with the first installment in The Ming Realities series: MING.
In the darkness of the cosmos, the voice of destiny calls to us from another dimension …
From opposite worlds, Ming and Murmur are linked across time and space: one called to heal and the other to corrupt. Guided by their fourth-dimensional counterparts, these two extraordinary individuals are led down a long and complex existence towards a predestined confrontation between the ultimate cure and the ultimate disease.
Caught in the celestial current and exposed to the harsh realities of a mortal universe, Ming must shoulder the burden of love, loss, hope, and suffering, as she reaches across the galaxy to meet her destiny.
Open your eyes to a universe unlike any other and immerse yourself in this fast-paced reality-bending novel. A genre-defying whirlwind, author R.L. Gray reimagines the spiraling cosmos as an intricate, layered, purposeful macrocosm in which the forces of good and evil dance across the celestial plane. Begin your journey through time and space with the first installment in The Ming Realities series: MING.
577 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2014
6 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Gray
3 books3 followersRL Gray is the author of MING: Book One of The Ming Realities Series. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was a very early reader and embraced all forms of fiction, with a special love of fantasy and science fiction, and credits JRR Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”, along with Lewis Carroll’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, for giving her the writing bug at an early age.
But life didn’t afford her the time to get serious about becoming an author until she’d had a long career working in office administration. Supporting herself didn’t leave much time for creative writing, although she always found time to read.
Her writing journey finally began in 2010. Staring at a blank page on her computer screen, she was determined to write something, but found herself at a loss – how to begin? Deciding to follow the old adage: write what you know, she couldn’t help thinking about a tale she’d started to spin when she was a little girl to help her get to sleep at night. Over the years, her reading inspired her with ideas, dimensions, and characters that she wove into her story and she decided to try writing it down as an exercise. That day, The Ming Realities was born.
She lives in Chicago and northern Michigan, dividing her time between her two homes, and is presently working on Book Two of the series, PARADOX.
But life didn’t afford her the time to get serious about becoming an author until she’d had a long career working in office administration. Supporting herself didn’t leave much time for creative writing, although she always found time to read.
Her writing journey finally began in 2010. Staring at a blank page on her computer screen, she was determined to write something, but found herself at a loss – how to begin? Deciding to follow the old adage: write what you know, she couldn’t help thinking about a tale she’d started to spin when she was a little girl to help her get to sleep at night. Over the years, her reading inspired her with ideas, dimensions, and characters that she wove into her story and she decided to try writing it down as an exercise. That day, The Ming Realities was born.
She lives in Chicago and northern Michigan, dividing her time between her two homes, and is presently working on Book Two of the series, PARADOX.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2016
The Worlds of Ming
Ming is an engaging and delightful sci-fi novel that delivers a vibrant dose of romance and adventure. The story follows several characters, but primarily an intriguing woman, Ming, who has magical healing powers, but in using those powers, Ming has to suffer the pain and injuries that those she heals have gone through, leaving her wounded and vulnerable.
We first meet Ming at age three, when she meets an enigmatic character from the fourth dimension named Paradox, who tells Ming of her powers. Paradox appears throughout Ming’s life at key moments, offering advice and perspective, sort of like an angel or spirit guide, but with a wacky sense of humor.
The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth and numerous Earth-like planets, where death is real, frequent, and painful, but with an afterlife, in which the author explores philosophical musings on multiple realities.
Ming finds true love—twice—or maybe three times, as a concluding afterlife scene hints.
The reader will spend plenty of time exploring future fantastic worlds and the struggles of good over evil, but often the development of various love relationships takes center stage.
The first romance is fairly brief and unconsummated (for complicated reasons—read the book) but this character, Prince Isha’el, plays important roles throughout the story, and perhaps in the sequel. Ming’s next—and very sexually exciting—relationship involves the commander, Gabe, of the spaceship Ming serves on. Gabe is murdered in a horrific explosion, bringing unimaginable pain to Ming, as she both grieves and suffers through the wounds Gabe would have felt had he survived. After Ming’s convalescence, she meets Sayel, who becomes Ming’s most important and fulfilling partner. Their romance develops and deepens over time, as the plot of good vs. evil thickens.
Another romantic but complicated relationship involves Ming’s gay bodyguard, Luke, and his lover, Cain. Luke’s life is dedicated to protecting Ming. Luke’s life partner, Cain, become jealous of Luke’s dedication to Ming, and the dark side of this imaginative world corrupts Cain into furthering the interests of evil. Cain then plots to destroy Ming.
The novel is fairly long, but the plot twists and imaginative characters and worlds kept me enthralled, with the overall narrative arc reaching a satisfying conclusion.
Ming contains memorable characters, compelling plot developments, and interesting worlds that have sounds, smells, and visual appeal. The author credibly conveys various different distant planet cultures and writes with a thoughtful, imaginative, and sexy voice. Readers will enjoy spending time in RL Grays’s inventive world of Ming.
Ming is an engaging and delightful sci-fi novel that delivers a vibrant dose of romance and adventure. The story follows several characters, but primarily an intriguing woman, Ming, who has magical healing powers, but in using those powers, Ming has to suffer the pain and injuries that those she heals have gone through, leaving her wounded and vulnerable.
We first meet Ming at age three, when she meets an enigmatic character from the fourth dimension named Paradox, who tells Ming of her powers. Paradox appears throughout Ming’s life at key moments, offering advice and perspective, sort of like an angel or spirit guide, but with a wacky sense of humor.
The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth and numerous Earth-like planets, where death is real, frequent, and painful, but with an afterlife, in which the author explores philosophical musings on multiple realities.
Ming finds true love—twice—or maybe three times, as a concluding afterlife scene hints.
The reader will spend plenty of time exploring future fantastic worlds and the struggles of good over evil, but often the development of various love relationships takes center stage.
The first romance is fairly brief and unconsummated (for complicated reasons—read the book) but this character, Prince Isha’el, plays important roles throughout the story, and perhaps in the sequel. Ming’s next—and very sexually exciting—relationship involves the commander, Gabe, of the spaceship Ming serves on. Gabe is murdered in a horrific explosion, bringing unimaginable pain to Ming, as she both grieves and suffers through the wounds Gabe would have felt had he survived. After Ming’s convalescence, she meets Sayel, who becomes Ming’s most important and fulfilling partner. Their romance develops and deepens over time, as the plot of good vs. evil thickens.
Another romantic but complicated relationship involves Ming’s gay bodyguard, Luke, and his lover, Cain. Luke’s life is dedicated to protecting Ming. Luke’s life partner, Cain, become jealous of Luke’s dedication to Ming, and the dark side of this imaginative world corrupts Cain into furthering the interests of evil. Cain then plots to destroy Ming.
The novel is fairly long, but the plot twists and imaginative characters and worlds kept me enthralled, with the overall narrative arc reaching a satisfying conclusion.
Ming contains memorable characters, compelling plot developments, and interesting worlds that have sounds, smells, and visual appeal. The author credibly conveys various different distant planet cultures and writes with a thoughtful, imaginative, and sexy voice. Readers will enjoy spending time in RL Grays’s inventive world of Ming.
December 19, 2015
This book was given to me, I wanted to like it and I've tried to read this it several times but the author's writing is in need of an editor. I can't get through it. The writing is stilted, especially the dialog, and the book reads like a draft. There may be a kernel of a book in there, but it's not realized as published.
October 17, 2015
I loved it. I am reading it again. This deserves a TV series and or Movie. Can't wait for the second one to come out.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews