To Be Chosen by Michael Travis Jasper Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of To Be Chosen
Book Review: A truly uplifting experience!
Summary: 5 Stars
This first novel by a very gifted author is amazing. His ability to surpass social mores and develop unique characters that give every reader something to indentify with makes this book such an uplifting pleasure to read. From the moment you meet each character individually, you are drawn into their world. You feel the passion and personal struggles each one faces. When the characters meet and take the story to a more spiritual level, Michael brings in more of a fantasy genre that keeps you anticipating the next page. The book leaves you with such an overall positive feeling of love for others and love for God; for aren't we all chosen to lead with love?Book Review: Changed How I View Myself and the World
Summary: 5 Stars
I am well read, and this book is my new favorite. It has everything I like, but rarely find combined in one novel, so even 420-something pages weren't enough. At the beginning, the stories of the three main characters are being told separately. Each one is interesting, and things really take off when they meet. I didn't know how I would feel about the mix of themes--Christian/pagan, gay/straight, action/romance/fantasy--but it works. Some people will have a hard time seeing past the controversial aspects, but I found myself liking the characters too much to be distracted by that stuff. It's thought-provoking and by the end, I loved these people and felt like part of their crazy family. Despite all of the shockers, the moral came shining through--God loves everybody. This was the first time I ever reread a book because of the way it made me feel about myself.Book Review: Excellent - enjoyed reading this book very much
Summary: 4 Stars
Michael's novel is an interesting and rewarding experience to read. It kept me entertained and waiting to see what would happen next. The characters were well definied and the plot very interesting. I would highly recommend this novel to all science fiction lovers.Book Review: Great read
Summary: 5 Stars
To Be Chosen
I bought this book a few weeks ago and am thoroughly enjoying it. I work at lot of hours which is the only reason I haven't finished reading the book yet - although I do typically enjoy a slow, savoring read of a good book. I've been setting aside 30 minutes each night to read as much as I can. When I finish with one chapter I want to read on to the next but often I have to make myself wait...kinda like watching an episode of your favorite weekly tv series where you have to wait the following week to see what happens.
The character set seems bizarre at first - you have 3 kindred spirits who seem entirely mismatched on the outset - but as the story and the characters are rapidly developed the 3 individuals are coalesced into one sovereign force.
The story itself at first glance seems utterly impossible. However, the fabric of the characters and the story are woven together in such a way that the whole experience seems entirely plausible making the author's conception of the novel that much more of a triumph.
Book Review: I wander as I wonder out under the stars...
Summary: 2 Stars
How to begin? This is a book I picked up after an author e-mail/press release in January '08. The tagline "Ask yourself what you would do if you were chosen to better humanity...because you were," sets the expectation that this book is going to go somewhere. I plodded through the child-like text and choose-your-own-adventure plot and closed this book gladly. Despite glimmers of deeper thought that step out of text sporadically - the appearance of the green man, phrases like "a living statue of gold and volcanic glass", the inference of Nietzsche (the abyss gazes into you), right up to one of the closing concepts of an Earth on which "the freed slaves from a hundred worlds were equal in number to the surviving humans" - are few and far between. Despite the books promise, "profound thoughts are provoked," by and large the story is a mish-mash of Wikipedia-like entries and badly chosen grammar, fragmented sentences and in many cases the repeated use of the incorrect word (wonder vs. wander, passed vs. past in particular). Child-like telling is consistent throughout: a constant switching between highbrow concept straight to gutter talk and unending references to any one of the character's butts, packages, pecs, biceps, etc. become an uninteresting dull roar. The diary of a peeping Tom. Unthinkingness - to quote Samuel Delany. The entire book should be culled to the choicest of its concepts and then smartly edited and re-issued.