Sunday, February 1, 2015

"Ourselves"

S.G. Redling burst onto the scene with Flowertown, a high-octane conspiracy thriller that earned her fans around the globe and was followed by bestsellers including the space adventure Damocles and techno-thrillers The Widow File and Redemption Key. In her latest novel, Ourselves, Redling charts new territory – and puts a fascinating new twist on vampire lore – in telling the story of the Nahan, a human race who live among, but are startlingly different from, “common” humans.

Redling applied the Page 69 Test to Ourselves and reported the following:
Ourselves takes us into a hidden world of predators who live among us. The Nahan have manipulated myths about monsters throughout history to hide their presence. They’re human in every sense – complicated, dangerous, and emotional. They have strong social ties, deep mythology, and strict rules for interaction with the outside world.

From Page 69:
“What about school? If you had applied yourself more in school you would have had the grades to get into any college you chose but instead you and Louis had to party and play and fool around. And now neither of you will be able to get into college on your own. Do you think Aricelli is going to need her transcripts doctored? No, she managed to get the grades—”

“Mom! We’re not talking about Aricelli. Or college. This has nothing to do with—”

“It has everything to do with college! It’s called having options, Thomas.”

“And stop calling me Thomas! My name is Tomas!”
This wouldn’t have been my first thought when asked for a representational passage but I’m surprised how fitting it is. We’re thrown into this shadow world in our midst, meeting these people, the Nahan, who can be so different and so dangerous, but here we see how very human they are. Right before this scene, Tomas has realized he’s called for an incredibly difficult path – training with the Storytellers. This is a life-changing decision that will impact their entire community. It requires a huge sacrifice and brutal training.

But first, he has to get yelled at by his mom.

Is there anything more human?
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My Book, The Movie: Ourselves.

--Marshal Zeringue