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THE TOR
Among the rotting ruins and open sores of a diseased Earth, Jude – sole survivor of a solitary group of hungry travellers and scavengers – is destined for a vital task ... but those who knew what that task is are all dead.
Bewildered and questing, Jude makes an epic Odyssey across a dying and decaying landscape of corrupt countryside and crumbling cities, thinly peopled by savage killers and unworldly dreamers, in a desperate bid to discover what he is meant to do.
Along the winding way, he gathers new a wretched waif, rescued from slavery and cannibalism, a mysterious woman of beauty and secrets, and an equally mysterious, though anything but beautiful, old man of unfathomable prophesies and ferocious violence. At times, Jude feels his tired old wagon horse is his only true ally as the once-clear dividing line between friend and foe becomes blurred.
In this futuristic re-telling of ancient Grail legends, Jude becomes knight errant in a joust to the death between fear and duty.
Will he become the saviour of humanity or its doomed scapegoat at the end of days ... when his quest finally brings him to The Tor?
With characters that become as familiar as personal friends and enemies, a story that is both vaguely remembered and vividly fresh, and pages that seem to turn in the wind, Liza Granville inspires her reader to ask, for new reasons, the age-old question ... is our very presence on the only planet we know intimately the problem or the solution? Are we Mother Nature’s children or her killer?
Publisher's As it says on the BeWrite website we try to give value for money and we have again with this book, if you care to take a look...
Bewildered and questing, Jude makes an epic Odyssey across a dying and decaying landscape of corrupt countryside and crumbling cities, thinly peopled by savage killers and unworldly dreamers, in a desperate bid to discover what he is meant to do.
Along the winding way, he gathers new a wretched waif, rescued from slavery and cannibalism, a mysterious woman of beauty and secrets, and an equally mysterious, though anything but beautiful, old man of unfathomable prophesies and ferocious violence. At times, Jude feels his tired old wagon horse is his only true ally as the once-clear dividing line between friend and foe becomes blurred.
In this futuristic re-telling of ancient Grail legends, Jude becomes knight errant in a joust to the death between fear and duty.
Will he become the saviour of humanity or its doomed scapegoat at the end of days ... when his quest finally brings him to The Tor?
With characters that become as familiar as personal friends and enemies, a story that is both vaguely remembered and vividly fresh, and pages that seem to turn in the wind, Liza Granville inspires her reader to ask, for new reasons, the age-old question ... is our very presence on the only planet we know intimately the problem or the solution? Are we Mother Nature’s children or her killer?
Publisher's As it says on the BeWrite website we try to give value for money and we have again with this book, if you care to take a look...
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First published June 8, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 8, 2011
This novel is part Fantasy, part Post-apocalyptic. In a way, it's structured a little like The Hobbit. A young, inexperienced, non-warrior is forced to go on a lengthy journey accompanied by strangers. He doesn't set out on the journey of his own free will, but gets caught up in events and pulled along by others along the way. The ending involves a final task that completes his transformation from youth to adult. The main differences between the two are The Hobbit is much lighter fare with more magic and adventure, whereas the ending of The Tor is much more meaningful for society today. However, both novels, with perhaps the exception of a few choice phrases in The Tor (bluddy, fooking, etc.), fall in the Young Adult genre.
The strengths of The Tor are its excellent narrative and the lessons we learn from the conclusion. Liza Granville is certainly talented with words and capably flows the sentences together in a manner that many bestselling authors can't, and the ending will be of interest to those concerned with social and environmental issues.
Unfortunately, the ending is a long time coming, and the impact is lessoned by all that comes before it. The characters lack any sort of depth or credibility. Monumental, life-altering events have little emotional effect on them, and very little time is spent analyzing these characters or their thoughts. As well, many of the events along the journey simply serve to lengthen the story rather than add any information to the plot or develop the characters.
So, while the narrative and ending are enjoyable, the structure and plot lack punch. It took me a long time to read it because I didn't really care about the boy or what he was doing. When I did pick it up, I read it with a sense of detachment. While I wasn't a huge fan of The Hobbit either, it at least had a playful, magical appeal this one does not.
(I received this e-book for free from the publisher as part of a promotion.)
The strengths of The Tor are its excellent narrative and the lessons we learn from the conclusion. Liza Granville is certainly talented with words and capably flows the sentences together in a manner that many bestselling authors can't, and the ending will be of interest to those concerned with social and environmental issues.
Unfortunately, the ending is a long time coming, and the impact is lessoned by all that comes before it. The characters lack any sort of depth or credibility. Monumental, life-altering events have little emotional effect on them, and very little time is spent analyzing these characters or their thoughts. As well, many of the events along the journey simply serve to lengthen the story rather than add any information to the plot or develop the characters.
So, while the narrative and ending are enjoyable, the structure and plot lack punch. It took me a long time to read it because I didn't really care about the boy or what he was doing. When I did pick it up, I read it with a sense of detachment. While I wasn't a huge fan of The Hobbit either, it at least had a playful, magical appeal this one does not.
(I received this e-book for free from the publisher as part of a promotion.)
July 1, 2011
I had such high hopes for Ms. Granville's works. A post apocalypic journey. A boy goes through trials to save the world kind of thing. It turns out that Ms. Granville has a weak plot scheme. Same old: up and down, fight and flight, but in the end signifying not much. The author is weakest at character devopement. I found I didn't much care what happened to this boy, or like him very much. I began to page quickly through the book to get to an underwhelming end. Granville's language is good. Now if she could get in touch with her characters, she might just one day be really good.
This book might appeal to young readers. ?
This book might appeal to young readers. ?
November 22, 2011
This post-apocalyptic journey tale follows Jude through difficult trials as he seeks to fulfill a quest--mostly unknown to him until the point at which he must perform the tasks--to save the earth from destruction. He can only fulfill his quest with the help of another teen, as well as two figures representing the Earth and the Heavens.
Maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the journey-type of novel, but there were several things in this book that rubbed me the wrong way. First was the blatant Christian symbolism straight from Revelations: good people come in packs of 7 or 3, bad people always come in packs of 6. The archetypes representing Mother Earth and the Heavens were a little too over the top, especially Heavens who was blind in one eye and could see all things past, present and future. On a more technical note, I wasn't terribly impressed with the writing. I felt like the story was rushed to get all of the plot points in. There were several moments in which the MC drifts into visions and I had no idea what was going, needing to go back and reread passages more than once.
On the other hand, the story has a great message about not monopolizing the earth, that the land is for everyone and no one can own it. Treat is with respect and dignity the way it should be.
Maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the journey-type of novel, but there were several things in this book that rubbed me the wrong way. First was the blatant Christian symbolism straight from Revelations: good people come in packs of 7 or 3, bad people always come in packs of 6. The archetypes representing Mother Earth and the Heavens were a little too over the top, especially Heavens who was blind in one eye and could see all things past, present and future. On a more technical note, I wasn't terribly impressed with the writing. I felt like the story was rushed to get all of the plot points in. There were several moments in which the MC drifts into visions and I had no idea what was going, needing to go back and reread passages more than once.
On the other hand, the story has a great message about not monopolizing the earth, that the land is for everyone and no one can own it. Treat is with respect and dignity the way it should be.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews