If you’re here for IWSG, feel free to flip to the bottom of this post.
Today I’m sharing a review of The Heart of the Stone (Stonewiser, #1) by Dora Machado, for a review tour hosted by Vickie Dold at Innovative Online Book Tours.
It’s also #IWSG day! Where does the time go; it’s March already? Check out my insecurity and please offer your guidance.
About Dora Machado’s Novels
Dora Machado is the award winning author of the Stonewiser trilogy and her newest novel, The Curse Giver. She is one of the few Latinas exploring her heritage and her world through the epic fantasy genre today. Her first novel, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, won the 2009 Benjamin Franklin award for best debut novel. Her second novel, Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone, won the 2010 Independent Publishers Book Award’s (IPPY) Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy book of the year. Her third novel, Stonewiser: The Lament of the Stone, won the 2012 Independent Publishers Book Award’s (IPPY) Silver Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy book of the year. All three novels were finalists in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Category. Her latest novel, The Curse Giver from Twilight Times Books is available July 2013.
BLURB:
Winner of the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award for best Debut Novel
Finalist for 2009 Foreword Book of the Year Award for SFF
Between truth and deception, between justice and abuse, a stonewiser stands alone with the stones. Or so begins the stonewiser’s oath. But what happens when a rebellious stonewiser discovers that lies have tainted the stone tales?
In a world devastated by the rot’s widespread destruction, only the tales preserved in the stones can uphold the truth and defend the Goodlands. In this world, stone truth is valued above anyone’s word, and stonewisers are the only ones capable of retrieving the tales from the stones, the only link between past and present, order and chaos.
Sariah is the most gifted stonewiser of her generation, but her talent does not atone for her shortcomings. A survivor of the Guild’s brutal training, she is curious, willful and disobedient. Yet not even Sariah is prepared for what she finds when she steals into the Guild’s Sacred Vaults: A mayhem of lies and intrigues that shatters her world.
Hunted, persecuted, and betrayed, Sariah must make an unlikely alliance with Kael, a cynical rebel leader pledged to a mysterious quest of his own. The fate of their dying world depends on their courage to overcome centuries of hatred and distrust. But not even the grueling journey has prepared them for what they are about to discover. Because nothing is really as it seems, and the truth is more intricate and devastating than they ever suspected….
BUY NOW LINKS
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MY REVIEW
I had the great experience of listening to the Audible version of this very long book, read by the very enthusiastic Melissa Reizian Frank. Her ability to take on different characters, and add different voices, really helped me to digest the story.
Stonewiser Saraiah (our protagonist) was taken from her true parents as a child to live in servitude at the Stonewiser’s Guild beyond the Wall, and was raised to believe that the Guild stands for truth and justice. But when wising twin stones (which means, absorbing the Truth from within them) illegally, she nearly dies, and she discovers step one in her all consuming search for Truth. A different one, found outside of the Guild’s teachings. One which is not so clear cut.
But she is forced before the Guild for justice to be served when she is discovered, and Sariah has a choice of being licensed out to yet another cruel Guild Master, who will use her skills and her body as he sees fit like the others, or to escape with a people she’d been taught to hate and fear – The New Bloods. She chooses the latter and this story is about how she learns not only the Stone’s Truth, but also about herself, and her own capacity for life away from stones, and about loving flesh more than stones.
The Heart of the Stone is high fantasy, and a wonderful and imaginative, thought-provoking story. The writing was packed to bursting with evocative descriptions of all things, from ever changing environments, to the intense emotions of the characters. The romance between Sariah and Kael was dealt with beautifully, if a little predictably (they hate each other, then they love each other). The sex scenes (only a few, no smut, beautifully done) were so well written and their emotion so infused me, my tears gushed on more than one occasion.
Sariah was likeable, if difficult to understand in places due to her emotionless upbringing. And Kael was the typical strong brooding silent type, with a big a heart and burning passion beneath the tough exterior. I found the cast, on the whole, well developed; I found it easy to picture them, their actions, their expressions, and I cared for them.
If it’s so great, why 4/5 stars?
I have a few grievances:
It was a little heavy on description for me, in places. Sometimes, less is so much more. It allows me to enjoy it without being overwhelmed by it. Give us one simile, not a string of them.
A major irritant by the end of the book, for me, was how often characters (especially our protag) says, “Meliahs help me,” (and variations of this phrase). My stomach actually began to clench at this throughout the last five or six chapters.
When characters mentioned Ars (a name) e.g. Kael, son of Ars. it pulled me but of the story. Am I child? Perhaps. It wouldn’t have been so bad if this word were mentioned once or twice, but it was mentioned a lot at one point, and interchangeably with mention of actual ‘arses’ (he slapped her arse, etc). Especially on Audio, it was confusing and inappropriately amusing.
My main beef with the story though, was the unbelievability of Sariah’s belief that the Guild stood for truth and justice, and her utter surprise when she realised that might not be the case. The Guild and its inhabitants did nothing but abuse and use her (body and stone-wising abilities — enforced slavery) throughout her life, and did the same to anyone unlike them. They were clearly both corrupt and deceitful. As this was the backdrop of the story premise, it wasn’t fully justified or explained. I spent the initial part of the story thinking, why did she believe in them in the first place?
* Overall, this is a superb high fantasy. If you love fantasy, you’ll be glad you took a chance on this one, and will no doubt be as eager as I am to see what is in store for Sariah in books two and three.
The Series
The Dora Machado Interview
The Personal Questions
What’s your idea of total happiness?
Family, friends and writing. These are the three aspects of my life that matter the most to me. My family and friends nourish me and enrich my life in indescribable ways. Writing fulfills my creative passion.
Which trait do you most deplore about yourself?
Skepticism. I think I’ve said this before. I hate it in myself, but it’s not always a negative. It keeps the mind in play and the heart healthy some days.
What do you consider to be the most overrated virtue?
Goodness. A person can do a lot of harm when pursuing goodness for the sake of pure personal satisfaction, especially when it comes to doing things for others that they should do for themselves.
What’s your worst vice?
Writing. Don’t laugh. It’s addictive. Once I start, it’s hard for me to stop!
What do you most value in your friends?
Acceptance. I’m by no means perfect and neither are my friends, but we love and respect each other just the way we are.
Do you have a mantra or motto?
I stole mine from Nike: Just do it.
Which living and which dead person do you most admire and why?
I really admire my parents. They taught me unconditional love and they shared their passion for reading and writing. In addition, I admire the way in which they tackled their lives as immigrants with grace, humor and determination.
In terms of people who are no longer alive, I admire Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela. I think they tapped into something special, a line of thought difficult to comprehend to most of us but definitively associated with the higher functioning of the human soul.
What is your favourite (song) and why?
That’s a hard question! I actually go through periods where I might be obsessed with a song and then forget it altogether for a while. I think some of my current faves include Alicia Key’s “Girl on Fire,” Lady Antebellum’s “Run to Me,” and “Defying Gravity,” from the Broadway musical Wicked, but ask me tomorrow and my answers could be totally different.
What is your favourite cuisine?
I love Latin American cuisine. I grew up eating rice and beans! And who doesn’t love a good flan?
Have your personal experiences (or situations) influenced you, creatively?
I’m of the mind that every personal experience, every situation in a writer’s life influences one’s writing. In that sense, we are constantly pulling from our pool of experiences, and how we feel about those experiences gives us our best and most authentic material. It’s sometimes difficult to see those connections and yet they are always there.
One area where I can easily see the influence between my personal experiences and writing is traveling. I travel a good deal and my trips act like a catalyst for my work. When I travel, I get a lot of ideas and sometimes they go directly to the page. For example, when I was beginning to write The Curse Giver, I traveled to Peru, where I was exposed not only to the beauty of the Andes, but also to the Inca creation mythology and the indigenous people’s beliefs. Those sights, legends and views ended up shaping the fantasy world of The Curse Giver.
The same thing happened with the Stonewiser series. I developed the idea of stonewising—storing history, legends and information in the stones—as I toured the West and witnessed the astonishing rock formations that composed some of our most incredible national parks. You can trace the origins of the Stonewiser series to places like Arches, Canyonlands and Grand Canyon National Park.
What are you reading now?
Ooof. Another hard one. I have a pile of downloads waiting in my tablet and it ranges from Bernard Cornwell’s latest to some of my Twilight Times Books author friends.
12. What other interests do you have?
I love to travel. I enjoy hiking, kayaking, skiing and just being outdoors. Of course I love to read, that’s a given. I also love a grand lyrical Broadway show.
13. What was the last movie you went to see?
Pompeii.
14. Do you have a favourite genre?
Epic fantasy, of course! It’s what I write and what I love to read. I also love historical fiction. To me, fantasy and history are companion genres.
The Writer-Specific Questions.
What got you into writing?
I think I’ve wanted to be a writer since the day I first held a book in my hands. My earliest memories as a child include that dream. My grandfather was a writer and my parents had a library where I spent many hours as a child and a young woman. In the end, I think that writing for me is a combination of nature and nurture.
What is your new Audiobook about and what inspired you to write it?
Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone is the first book of the Stonewiser trilogy. I wrote it a few years ago, but it just came out as an audiobook a few weeks ago. Hearing the book narrated for the first time was an incredible experience for me. And I just found out that the entire Stonewiser trilogy is now available at Audible.com!
Stonewiser was first inspired by a dream. I met Sariah for the first time as the reader will meet her in the book, sitting cross-legged on the floor, with a stone in each hand. She seemed to be struggling with these stones. Small bursts of smoke singed her hands. I woke up wondering who this woman was and why she was engaged in such a strange battle with the stones.
Like I said above, I think that the concept of a stonewiser—a person bred and trained to read and imprint messages, information and history in the stones—came out of my wanderings through the incredible geological formations I’d seen in Arizona and Utah.
It also came from asking questions. What would happen if we lost everything we know? What would happen if the Internet was suddenly gone, if there were no libraries, if we didn’t really know our history, where we came from and how we got here?
Those questions are the premise of the story, where a pervasive rot has destroyed not just the world, but all traces of a people’s history. In this world, stonewisers are the only ones who can stand between truth and deceit, justice and abuse. The stories in the stones define what remains of this world in peril, and determine who rules it. But what happens when a stonewiser discovers that there are lies in the stories stored in the stones?
What are the challenges to being a writer? And what are the benefits? Have things changed lately?
Time is one of the huge challenges of being a writer. You have all these stories in your mind and you don’t have enough time to put them all down. Writing takes a lot of mental energy and concentration. It requires long hours and a single-minded focus. The process of writing takes over for extended periods of time and can sometimes isolate you from your real life and from those you love. You have to strive to balance a vigorous and productive writing life, but also a fulfilling personal life.
There are no assurances when you embark on the process of writing a novel, no guarantees that you will have something worthwhile, not to mention sellable or profitable at the end. There’s a high element of risk to investing one’s productive time into the writing process. It requires a lot of determination, self-discipline and faith.
As to the benefits of writing, well, if you’re like me, and you write for the pure pleasure of writing, then writing is the reward and the rest is just gravy.
Have things changed lately? You bet! Things are changing all the time in writing, and these days, a quick look at the publishing scene can give you whiplash. The trick for both newbie and veteran alike is to keep current and flexible, to …roll with the changes and keep writing.
What advice can you offer to struggling writers?
Write and learn, learn and write. If your struggles have to do with the basics, then find ways of learning your craft. Look at your work with a critical eye. There are innumerable resources out there to develop your writing skills and sharpen your techniques. Take advantage of them!
Where do you see book publishing in the future?
I think that book publishing will continue to be a rapidly changing industry for many years to come. The landscape will continue to be a challenge and the competition for publishing opportunities will get tougher. At the same time, I think we will continue to see innovative options for publishing and more published books than ever before.
Are you an indie or traditional author?
I am a traditional author who really enjoys working with independent publishers. All of my books have been published by small to medium independent publishers who care about quality and who are trying to put new and fresh fiction out there. The publisher for the Stonewiser trilogy was Mermaid Press. The publisher of my latest fantasy novel, The Curse Giver, is Twilight Times Books.
Why do you write in the fantasy genre?
I straddle many worlds in my “real” life, so fantasy is a perfect fit for me. As a history major, medieval history fascinated me and has a great impact in the worlds I fashion and the stories I write. My experiences growing up in the Caribbean also have a lot to do with my choice of genre. Things that might appear fantastic to others seem normal to me. Injustice, poverty and struggle were a vivid part of my world growing up and are therefore very much a part of the fantasy worlds I write about.
What is your biggest problem with the writing process? How do you tackle it?
Time is a challenge for me. I never have enough time to put down all the stories I want to write. I try to defend my writing time, but life has a funny way of getting in the way.
Do you feel writing is something you need to do or want to do?
Both! I need to write and I want to do it desperately, all the time. Writing is my addiction but also my greatest indulgence. I’m happiest when I ‘m writing.
About the Author:
Dora Machado is the award winning author of the Stonewiser series and her newest novel, The Curse Giver, from Twilight Times Books, available July 2013. She is one of the few Latinas exploring her heritage and her world through the epic fantasy genre today. She holds a master’s degree in business administration and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Georgetown University. She was born in Michigan and grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she developed a bilingual fascination for writing, a love for history, and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to her stories. She enjoys long walks, traveling, and connecting with the amazing readers who share in her mind’s adventures. She lives in Florida with her indulging husband and three very opinionated cats.
To learn more about Dora Machado and her novels, visit her website.
Subscribe to her blog, sign up for her newsletter and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
| Facebook | Twitter: @DoraMachado | Amazon Author Central
Today is also #IWSG day! Where does the time go; it’s March already?
CLICK FOR THE LIST OF INSECURE WRITERS!
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
*
My insecurities are sales! I really don’t know what I’m doing with marketing. I’ve read so much about this GUARANTEED SALES idea and the next MUST do check list and quite frankly, I’m still a lost lonely book amongst many.
I have a wonderful cover, indisputably. Derek Murphy, the legend cover artist is most definitely not to blame. I am. I must be, right!
I’ve read some real rotten best sellers in Kindle and can’t understand it. It really makes me question my own abilities.
Then I drag myself away from the gas stove and ponder, perhaps it’s other things, like the blurb? For me, the cover and the blurb have to grab me or I click to the next book. And well, I am horrendous at writing any kind of sales copy; I’ve never been happy with my blurb. I’ve changed it so many times (which is bad for SEO I think?) but each time I lose connection with the story and ebb towards, Hey, buy this great book!! (Yuk and Yikes!).
I have had an editor/copy writer look at it recently. She came up with what follows, although I tweeked it slightly to match more with my story (she wrote off a brief synopsis so it needed a tiny tweek) .
Paranormal mystery with an urban fantasy twist!
‘Finding Esta’ is the tumultuous tale of one extraordinary woman’s journey of self-discovery within a supernatural underworld.Luna has never been popular, in fact, even her parents loath her. She can hardly blame them; her psychic issues do make her a little odd and her only friends — Flo and Ada– are Shadows who exist inside her troubled mind.
Although the normal world is all she’s known, it’s a place where she’s never belonged, nor been understood. For Luna, each day is not about living and succeeding, but about survival. Her only passion is following hot on the heels of a great story, and her work as a journalist leads her to investigate the disappearance of baby Esta, snatched from her home over twenty years earlier.
Soon, Luna stumbles upon a series of revelations in a clandestine realm of vampires, weres, and magical alien-supernaturals. Revelations that make her oddities appear perfectly banal in comparison and obliterate her every preconceived idea of the normal world. Her hunger for truth drives her forward. Yet, the constant physical changes, the undefined blood in her veins, the heightened power of psychic gifts she’s always hated, and an ache to finally belong, all force her to make discoveries about herself she could never have imagined.
Ignorance may be bliss, but the truth will set Luna free, if only she can face it.
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What do you think?
X
Oh, PLEASE help me with THIS IDEA before you go!
I’m considering splitting Finding Esta (124k words) into two parts. It could easily be split at one specific point which is around half way. That would still offer two 60’000+ word books. Pretty decent size and peeps are buying shorter books more than long, lately.
What do you think?
Each book wouldn’t finish completely though, as it’s an ongoing story. And I know some peeps hate that. Suppose if I say that upfront, in the description, folks will (or won’t) buy it on that basis. I would still offer it as a whole book as it is now, but also offer it as two halves (I’m thinking 99c for the first half, 2.99 for the second, or 3.99 for both halves in one book).
Your feedback would be HUGELY appreciated.
And please share with us any marketing tactics you’ve found worked best (feel free to send them as a guest post).
What’s worked for you and what’s not?
Okay, well done if you read all of this rather long post.
Now, go follow the hop and check out this amazing writing community.
IWSG Administrators
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* And…. don’t forget to enter the giveaway to receive 124 thousand words of paranormal mystery with an urban fantasy twist! Ten copies up for grabs till March 31st. Go on, have a go. It’s FREE!
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