RISEN Review by Tara Forst

Today is a professional review of RISEN from Tara Forst.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up Risen, but I was more than pleasantly surprised. I found both the writing style and the content intriguing and unique. Initially I was a bit confused by the chapters going back and forth between past and present, but once I understood what was happening I was enthralled by the strange, sad tale told by Eric Trant. I found the characters interesting and realistic and felt a deep sympathy for them. Alberto and his brother Paolo face horror after horror and beat the odds despite Alberto’s small stature and Paolo’s infirmities. Alberto and Paolo create a perfect team with Paolo’s physical strength and Alberto’s strength of character. Alberto defends and cares for his brother and Lena while their fathers rage and campaign against their neighbors. I found the settings to be quite authentic and frightening as well. You could practically feel the heat from the “Porta dell’Inferno.” I never knew what to expect next. Risen kept me engaged with each new chapter. Though it was a fairly easy read, I found myself taking more time and care to read as the timeframes jumped around with each chapter. One of my favorite chapters is chapter 12 (Bestie). So much happens in this chapter! Lena is introduced and is described in all her beauty from Alberto’s point of view. Alberto and Lena have an amusing encounter, and Alberto’s father is killed. If there was one point that I couldn’t put this book down it was after this chapter! After reading Risen, I can’t wait to pick up another Eric Trant book soon! Tara Forst

Thank you, Tara, for the kind review!




About today’s guest reviewer: Tara Forst lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their young son. Tara owns her own business Worn Forever - dedicated to helping mamas with babywearing and attachment parenting.










See some of our next stops on the blog tour here:

Monday September 4th (today) @ WOW! Women on Writing

Interview & Giveaway

http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/

Tuesday, September 5th @ Choices with Madeline Sharples

Eric Trant writes today's guest post at Choice "Is a Career in the Arts (writing) Realistic?". Readers can find out more about Trant and his latest book RISEN.

http://madelinesharples.com/

Wednesday, September 6th @ Mari McCarthy’s Create Write Now

"Say YES: Why Taking Chances is Imperative" is today's topic at Mari McCarthy's Create Write Now. Hear from author Eric Trant as he examines this important topic and shares more about his latest novel RISEN.

http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog/

Thursday, September 7th @ Writer’s Pay it Forward

Eric Trant pens today's guest post at Writer's Pay It Forward. Today's post is titled: "Breaking In vs. Breaking Out: The Writer's Career Arc". Readers and Writers alike won't want to miss this opportunity to hear from Trant as well as finding out more about his latest novel RISEN.

https://writerspayitforward.com/

Friday, September 8th @ BookWorm

Hear from Anjanette Potter of BookWorm as she reviews Eric Trant's latest novel RISEN- this historical supernatural work of fiction is sure to please readers!

https://bookworm66.wordpress.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Lisa Haselton

Lisa Haselton interviews Eric Trant about his latest novel RISEN. You'll want to learn more about this supernatural tale of fiction as well as the mastermind behind the dynamic writing.

http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Hott Books

"Life Gets Better: An Angel Dad Reports Five Years Later" is today's post title at Hott Books. This touching true life tale is told by guest blogger Eric Trant as part of his WOW! Women on Writing book blog tour of his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.hottbooks.com/

Monday, September 11th @ Tara Forst at Digging with the Worms

Crunchy Wisconsin Mama and Entrepreneur Tara Forst reviews RISEN by Eric Trant. Don't miss this review and giveaway of Trant's latest thriller!

http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 12th @ Bring on Lemons with Tess Fallier

Tess Fallier is today's guest blogger with a review and her thoughts on Eric Trant's RISEN. Don't miss this blog stop!

http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, September 13th @ Book Santa Fe with Crystal Otto

Reader and book blogger Crystal Otto reviews Eric Trant's RISEN and shares her thoughts with readers at Book Santa Fe.

http://www.booksantafe.info/

Thursday, September 14th @ Memoir Writer’s Journey

Eric Trant visits Memoir Writer's Journey and shares his thoughts with readers of Kathleen Pooler's engaging blog. Today's post title is: "Setting: Its Role in Storytelling". Don't miss this chance to hear from the talented Eric Trant and find out more about his latest book RISEN.

https://krpooler.com/

Friday, September 29th @ Coming Down the Mountain

Eric Trant is today's guest author at Karen Jones Gowen's blog Coming Down the Mountain. Read Eric's guest post titled "Luck: Its Role in Success" and find out more about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, October 18 @ Shannon Muir

Don't miss today's author interview at the blog of Author Shannon Muir. Shannon will be interviewing Eric Trant about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.shannon-muir.com

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels WINK, STEPS and RISEN from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Haunted by visions of a demonic angel and sold into servitude by his father, young Alberto battles to survive the horrors of a nineteenth century Sicilian sulfur mine. Suffering merciless brutality, Alberto must save not only himself but his deformed older brother, both pawns in their father's mad plan to overthrow a group of wealthy landowners.Bound by a death-debt to his hunchback master, Alberto discovers a door the miners call Porta dell'Inferno, the Door to Hell, deep within the sulfur mines. When he learns the demon-angel of his dreams stalks the caverns beyond the door, Alberto realizes a strange fate has lured him and his brother to the gates leading to the underworld.Now Alberto must face the creature from his visions and rise to become the man his father demands him to be, or remain forever trapped in a hellish world where none escape.

RISEN Blog Tour 2017 from WoW

Special thanks to Crystal J. Otto over at Bring on Lemons & WoW (Women on Writing) for organizing yet another wonderful blog tour for my latest release, RISEN, from WiDo Publishing.

Another huge thanks for everyone willing to participate, and especially to those offering professional reads and reviews of RISEN.

Below are the blog stops for the hop. I'll be cross-posting each day and stopping in, so take a look at some of the topics, then drop by and join us.

Monday September 4th (today) @ WOW! Women on Writing

Interview & Giveaway

http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/

Tuesday, September 5th @ Choices with Madeline Sharples

Eric Trant writes today's guest post at Choice "Is a Career in the Arts (writing) Realistic?". Readers can find out more about Trant and his latest book RISEN.

http://madelinesharples.com/

Wednesday, September 6th @ Mari McCarthy’s Create Write Now

"Say YES: Why Taking Chances is Imperative" is today's topic at Mari McCarthy's Create Write Now. Hear from author Eric Trant as he examines this important topic and shares more about his latest novel RISEN.

http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog/

Thursday, September 7th @ Writer’s Pay it Forward

Eric Trant pens today's guest post at Writer's Pay It Forward. Today's post is titled: "Breaking In vs. Breaking Out: The Writer's Career Arc". Readers and Writers alike won't want to miss this opportunity to hear from Trant as well as finding out more about his latest novel RISEN.

https://writerspayitforward.com/

Friday, September 8th @ BookWorm

Hear from Anjanette Potter of BookWorm as she reviews Eric Trant's latest novel RISEN- this historical supernatural work of fiction is sure to please readers!

https://bookworm66.wordpress.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Lisa Haselton

Lisa Haselton interviews Eric Trant about his latest novel RISEN. You'll want to learn more about this supernatural tale of fiction as well as the mastermind behind the dynamic writing.

http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Hott Books

"Life Gets Better: An Angel Dad Reports Five Years Later" is today's post title at Hott Books. This touching true life tale is told by guest blogger Eric Trant as part of his WOW! Women on Writing book blog tour of his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.hottbooks.com/

Monday, September 11th @ Tara Forst at Digging with the Worms

Crunchy Wisconsin Mama and Entrepreneur Tara Forst reviews RISEN by Eric Trant. Don't miss this review and giveaway of Trant's latest thriller!

http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 12th @ Bring on Lemons with Tess Fallier

Tess Fallier is today's guest blogger with a review and her thoughts on Eric Trant's RISEN. Don't miss this blog stop!

http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/Tess
http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/Cathy

Wednesday, September 13th @ Book Santa Fe with Crystal Otto

Reader and book blogger Crystal Otto reviews Eric Trant's RISEN and shares her thoughts with readers at Book Santa Fe.

http://www.booksantafe.info/

Thursday, September 14th @ Memoir Writer’s Journey

Eric Trant visits Memoir Writer's Journey and shares his thoughts with readers of Kathleen Pooler's engaging blog. Today's post title is: "Setting: Its Role in Storytelling". Don't miss this chance to hear from the talented Eric Trant and find out more about his latest book RISEN.

https://krpooler.com/

Friday, September 15th @ Building Bookshelves
Eric Trant interviews the 5 Ws at Building Bookshelves, promoting his new supernatural, historical thriller RISEN.

http://blogs.republicanherald.com/bookshelves/

Friday, September 29th @ Coming Down the Mountain

Eric Trant is today's guest author at Karen Jones Gowen's blog Coming Down the Mountain. Read Eric's guest post titled "Luck: Its Role in Success" and find out more about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/2017/09/what-part-does-luck-play-in-success.html

Wednesday, October 18 @ Shannon Muir

Don't miss today's author interview at the blog of Author Shannon Muir. Shannon will be interviewing Eric Trant about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.shannon-muir.com

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels WINK, STEPS and RISEN from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Haunted by visions of a demonic angel and sold into servitude by his father, young Alberto battles to survive the horrors of a nineteenth century Sicilian sulfur mine. Suffering merciless brutality, Alberto must save not only himself but his deformed older brother, both pawns in their father's mad plan to overthrow a group of wealthy landowners.Bound by a death-debt to his hunchback master, Alberto discovers a door the miners call Porta dell'Inferno, the Door to Hell, deep within the sulfur mines. When he learns the demon-angel of his dreams stalks the caverns beyond the door, Alberto realizes a strange fate has lured him and his brother to the gates leading to the underworld.Now Alberto must face the creature from his visions and rise to become the man his father demands him to be, or remain forever trapped in a hellish world where none escape.

Review: The Digital Rabbit Hole by Larry Kilham

Amazon Link

So I read The Digital Rabbit Hole by Mr. Larry Kilham regarding our future as it applies to technology, and I don't write many reviews (check my blog if you disbelieve me), but I wanted to write one for this book.

Because it deserves a review. And I kinda actually dug on the book.

See, Rabbit Hole is atypically interesting. He frames the yawnish topic of modern techno-consumerism into a Wonderland of truthful lies and fictional fact, a place where everyone is mad and rabbits dash down holes chasing useless misinformation, skittering in haste over tufts of trampled truth in search of whatever Google's sponsors insist we chase and consume.

All hail Google!

Anyway, Mr. Kilham stirs the balderdash hash of the modern world into his hookah, puffs a wise cloud and describes how we can spur intellectual growth in this mockery of ad-driven insanity, rather than simply melt down our life candle with blinking lights and calloused thumbs.

Because technology is a Wonderland of Wonders -- but only if we ~think~ about it.

He's sort of an authority on the topic of technology. I won't go into details, because you can figure it out if you read his profile, but I will say it is refreshing to discover an authoritative opinion on what the future might hold, embedded in a well-written, novelesque and easy-to-chow book.

"You should always think critically and search for the truth."

That's a quote from his book. It is a sky-is-blue obvious statement, but this is an ongoing theme throughout his work. That's why I bring up that he is genuinely an authority on the topic. His expertise shines in the details as he addresses such concerns as immediate gratification and our endless appetite for the next useless gadget. We sell our souls for shiny beads, but the silver lining is that there is a silver lining.

See, the techno-flood plains are littered with golden nuggets, if you are patient enough to pan out the mud and pebbles, and the intellectual plate is piled high with whole-grain goodness, if you are wise enough to winnow out the chaff.

He mentions a lot of interesting topics, such as fear of loss, why we socialize online, how virtual lifestyles affect us and our children, and he dubs the Internet of Things The Knowosphere and so on. I won't steal his thunder, but he will leave you with a wizened vocabulary of interesting catch phrases, and a slick sideways manner of debating the present-future world in which we exist through avatars and an impatient cursor.

I enjoyed the book and its take on technology, but I did find one question begging as I read. So I asked his publisher if she would mind asking him if I could beg him a question, and she asked, and he said he would answer, and so here it goes.

My begging question for Mr. Kilham

You nailed the useful-less-ness of the Knowosphere, as you describe it, pointing out the dichotomy of fact and fiction and suggesting how the thinking class might expand (or is it expound?) their knowledge, while still allowing the consumer class to enjoy what has become our most precious distraction this side of television and booze.

But I was hoping you would explore a point you touched on in this quote:

As Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee point out in Race Against the Machine, “How can so much value creation and so much economic misfortune coexist? How can technologies accelerate while incomes stagnate? These apparent paradoxes can be resolved by combining some well-understood economic principles with the observation that there is a growing mismatch between rapidly advancing digital technologies and slow-changing humans.”

While we will continue to witness a flurry of interesting technological advances, I wonder at what point the economy of technology will balance out the replacement of humans by machines, and I wonder if it already began, perhaps with the bust in the early 2000s and China's usurpation of American labor.

So I ask: What is the tipping point of too many economic dead-ends before the remaining workers can no longer sustain the consumerism that companies require to spawn new tech?

Mr. Kilham's Outstanding Response

I don’t know when your tipping point will happen although it probably happens in phases, creeping up almost unnoticed.

Partially reacting to the economic dead-ends you refer to, the Millennials are increasingly convinced that cheaper, simpler, eco-friendly living is the way to go. Tiny houses are no longer a novelty. Automobile ownership is no longer taken for granted. Now it’s okay to wear second-hand clothes and to buy rebuilt appliances.

The capital required to invest in new tech is not scarce, at least not by large, inventive companies. Apple and Google have more cash than they know what to do with. What they seem to lack are significant new product ideas. For small companies, access to venture capital probably has never been easier.

A new economic system catching attention is the move away from consumerism and towards economic subsistence for the less fortunate. This is called Universal Basic Income. It is being promoted by such apparently conservative visionaries as Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. The economic support for such a program would, of course, come from taxes. Economists calculate that taxes can provide enough funding. It is being tried now experimentally in Finland and in Ontario, Canada.

I discuss these concepts in detail in my book, Winter of the Genomes. It is available on Amazon in paperback and ebook.  http://amzn.to/2cGsPjF

The Digital Rabbit Hole 

Will digital media sweep us into a new era of prosperity? What new advances in entertainment, culture, education, and knowledge can we expect? Will we get stuck in Cyberland only to be saved by digital detox?

The Digital Rabbit Hole reveals that we are becoming captive in the digital universe. The portals are smartphones and the world is the Internet. We immerse ourselves in social media; we learn through packaged feel-good information; and we will leave the hard work to robots and AI. The book details digital media and discusses smartphone addiction problems. It proposes solutions to stimulate creativity and education and to recapture our humanity.

Paperback: 144 Pages
Genre: Social Science/Non Fiction
Publisher: FutureBooks.info; 1 edition (January 1, 2016)
ASIN: B01A3MTVBS

The Digital Rabbit Hole is available in print on Amazon.

About the Author:

Larry Kilham has traveled extensively overseas for over twenty years. He worked in several large international companies and started and sold two high-tech ventures. He received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Colorado and an M.S. in management from MIT. Larry has written books about creativity and invention, artificial intelligence and digital media, travel overseas, and three novels with an AI theme. Currently, he is writing a novel about free will.


Larry can be found online at:

Website: www.larrykilham.net 
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Larry-Kilham/e/B003UPNVNK/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4352387.Larry_Kilham

 - Eric

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels Wink and Steps from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Haunted by visions of a demonic angel and sold into servitude by his father, young Alberto battles to survive the horrors of a nineteenth century Sicilian sulfur mine. Suffering merciless brutality, Alberto must save not only himself but his deformed older brother, both pawns in their father's mad plan to overthrow a group of wealthy landowners.Bound by a death-debt to his hunchback master, Alberto discovers a door the miners call Porta dell'Inferno, the Door to Hell, deep within the sulfur mines. When he learns the demon-angel of his dreams stalks the caverns beyond the door, Alberto realizes a strange fate has lured him and his brother to the gates leading to the underworld.Now Alberto must face the creature from his visions and rise to become the man his father demands him to be, or remain forever trapped in a hellish world where none escape.

Is ~LOGAN~ the best-written Marvel movie yet?

So we watched Logan this past weekend, and it was not at all what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected, because I didn't get amped to see it in the theaters, and I wasn't all that anxious to see it when it hit video.

But I kept seeing ads for it -- nicely done, marketeers! -- and I watched the trailer again and this time decided to go ahead and rent it. I read somewhere it was unexpectedly dramatic, and that did it for me.

So we rented it.

My wife watched it with me and my young son. I know, say what you will, but my boy liked it. He is still going on about the "movie with the claws." Then he growls at me. He's three.

I realized it must be a good movie when my wife put down her phone. That right there, folks, is the sign of a good movie in this house!

She cried at the end. My daughter watched it later with a friend of hers. They both cried at the end.

Now, how many Marvel movies have made you cry? Not many, if any. Heck, I don't recall any superhero movie bringing out that much emotion in me. Let me think, hold on and let the worms dig a little... nope I don't recall any superhero movie, at least not a blockbuster sort of movie.

Anyway, Logan stuck with me, and I got to thinking that this might be the best Marvel movie yet. I've watched some of the Netflix Marvels, and although those try to do the same thing as Logan, they fail to reach the same level of depth.

And what was it that Logan did so differently, anyway?

I'll tell you, since you asked.

It depicted very ~HUMAN~ characters. Full of flaws. Full of frustrations. A life of mistakes, but you didn't mean to make those mistakes, they just happened as mistakes tend to happen.

It depicted love on a level that most of us hope to never experience. By that, I mean hard-love. If you've ever had to hard-love someone, you know that's not an enviable thing.

It depicted redemption. It depicted fall and rise. It did all those things it should do if you want to create a touching, moving story that will draw in your audience, regardless of the genre.

I wasn't expecting so much drama from a Marvel installation. Usually these are cheeky and fun, focused on senseless violence and some mind-numbing twists that do not often make sense. I'm looking at you, Guardians 2!

But in any case, Logan was a pleasant surprise. I will probably buy the movie since I would like to watch it a few more times.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that. If you want to see a fine depiction of how a drama-thriller-action-superhero movie is written, watch Logan.


 - Eric

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Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels Wink and Steps from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **