Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Echoes of Eden Review and Recommendation

This is one of the better graphic novels you've never heard of. My friend Marvin Olasky's writing kept me interested throughout, and the art and production are nice. A fictional story with intrigue and action, but also with much true information about the uncanny connections of world religions that "echo" the story of Eden in the Christian Scriptures. Interesting issues to think about while the story develops, but not too "preachy." Highly recommended for those readers who like some truth with their fiction.

You can purchase it here.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

If Silhouette was a Movie (Other Characters)

Macmillan Films is working on a movie deal for Silhouette, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want. This is my final post in this series--next I will do some posts with pictures for my second novel, Kaleidocide.

Harold Harris, who is a "net jockey" and leader of the squatters who have taken over the Red Tunnel, might look something like this...



A Korean tech named Kim helps Michael with his investigation, and then ends up in a Blade-Runneresque chase through the streets of San Francisco, being pursued by Michael, Paul, and their remote-controlled "falcons." Kim's wife, Angelee, plays a significant role in the sequel (see my next series of posts).



At the "summit" meeting of world leaders that Saul Rabin hosts toward the end of the novel, one of the guests is Stanford Glenn, who is one of the most powerful men in America, which is declining and decentralized, but is still very influential in the world.



Stan Glenn appears in the second book, and so does another guest at the summit meeting. General Zhang Sun is the militaristic ruler of China, and seems to have an animosity toward Michael, from which flows the primary plot of Kaleidocide (and the reason for the title, in fact). So this is a good way to end this series about Silhouette and transition to another one about the sequel.


Monday, April 1, 2013

If Silhouette was a Movie (Locations)

Macmillan Films is working on a movie deal for Silhouette, so I thought I would find some photos online that would show how I imagine the characters, locations, vehicles, weapons, etc. Is this how you imagined them when you read the book? Leave comments with your thoughts about them if you want.

The novel is set in the San Francisco Bay Area in the future, after a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the city, like the quake that did so in 1906. The damage might look something like this...



Former police chief Saul Rabin formed the Bay Area Security Service and rose to power by being the one man who could establish order in the ruined city, with the help of his force of "peacers" who have been given a license to kill. Much of the city was rebuilt, and BASS erected their huge "castle" at the summit of Nob Hill and a network of underground passageways like the "Red Tunnel," which in the novel has been invaded by squatters who are protesting the company's dictatorial policies. Imagine the building below about three times bigger, and you will have some idea of how the castle would loom over the city.



Saul Rabin also converted the ruins of the historic Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, next to the castle, into a high-tech jail. He repaired the gothic facade and named it the Grace Confinement Center, which seems oxymoronic, but he explained that "it is grace--they could be dead, but they're only locked up."



During the story, Michael Ares and Paul Rabin visit a place called "Chinatown Underground." The Chinese citizens who remained in the city constructed it when they razed and then rebuilt the ruined buildings of the former Chinatown, to accomodate the growing population of refugees from China, because that country had become so much more militaristic in recent years under the leadership of General Zhang Sun.



Finally, the former military base called the Presidio was rebuilt to house an orphanage, the pet project of Saul Rabin's wife Kathryn. Lynn Ares lived at the Presidio after her parents were killed in the earthquake.