Eviction Notice: Book Review

This book review has taken me ages as I was swamped with other books and some peripheral indulgences. So without much ado, here it is!

An absolute roller-coaster ride is what I would describe Eviction Notice as. Author Robyn Wyrick has taken an alien adventure story and turned it upside down punctuating the storyline with surprises, humor and incredible phantasm. A sci-fi that makes jokes at technology and aliens is a refreshing departure from the usual fare that we have been served in recent times.

Part futuristic, part adventure, Eviction Notice starts with a high school prank that sets into motion a series of events that threatens to break the very fabric of human existence. A high school tradition of creating alien crop circles becomes an open invitation to aliens to swamp Earth and serve an 'eviction notice'. 

Let’s start with the basics first; there is a Glen Fairy, who is a fairy (what else?), who possess the ability to heal the world of its abuses. In a bid to end a war, Glen Fairy was sold to Zorgon and Aloon Zigilbraxis was given the responsibility of delivering the cargo (read Glen Fairy). No issues till now. The problem was when the crop circle matched that of a similarly shaped beacon that would have helped the delivery pod to bring Glen so that Aloon could take her to Zorgon. Now the problem starts and it’s a hilarious problem. Gren Fairy gets delivered to Iowa where the pranksters had created the crop circle. Having lost Glen and told that only one thing could replace the lost Fairy; his death, Aloon takes over Earth and serves an 'eviction notice' to its rightful or unrightful inhabitants.

Since we can't have an all-aliens star cast, a depressed human is brought into picture. Alice Able is about to commit suicide when she is presumed to be the leader of human race because of a hilarious mistake. She is thrown into a race to save the Earth and make it the rightful place for humans as it always has been. The characters are well etched and the story is fast paced and never slacks even one bit and that’s what makes Eviction Notice a must read. Somewhere down the storyline, you would think that it is so unbelievable but if the child in you is still alive, you would take all of it with an incredulous smile and a glint in your eyes. I wish I was imaginative enough to conjure up such a fantastic piece of fiction.

The writing is so descriptive and nuanced that I could see it playing in my head as if it were a movie and I won't be too surprised if it were actually made into one. Humor is the one thing that stands out like a not-so-sore-thumb and is amazingly handled as this is one genre that is not easy to grip without going overboard. Robyn Wyrick has delivered a power packed tongue-in-cheek book that brings a smile to the face and puts forth a mirror to see the child in us. Bravo Mr Wyrick!


Disclosure: I was provided the e-book version of the book by the PR agency

Copyright (c) Pigtale 2005-2012. Images copyright respective holders.

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Freelancing no more!

I have always felt the need to express myself by writing and have done that on paper (as in real paper) since childhood. All went well till the Internet bug bit me. I could write whatever I felt and wherever I liked on the web. It also provided a huge market for content. I happily lapped it up. I thought that if I got paid for what I wrote, then I could consider myself a writer. Website content, marketing brochures, sales newsletters...anything and everything that came my way was happily delivered. Few original content here and there but most were rehashed versions of the originals.

Money was a by-product of the satisfaction that I got by writing. Satisfaction in the sense that I could call myself a freelance writer. How wrong I was…only time taught me. Like all things, the charm wore off pretty soon and I stopped soliciting work which dealt with the above. Up came article ghostwriting. Since I am not a big name in the literary world, no one wanted my name on the article...which was fine by me as long as it paid me. I enjoyed till it lasted. How long could I write articles on home products or fishes and plants so that they could be submitted to ezine website for marketing purposes…and that too featuring someone else’s name. I quit doing that as well. In short, the self inflated bubble called a ‘freelance writer’ was busted. I realized, I was not one.

And why am I saying this now? Because, I think I have achieved one of the things that I wanted in life; complete a novel. The childhood dream of weaving a story and just holding the printed pages in my hand just got fulfilled. No! I am not published yet…far from it. For now I have just held the computer printout of the 1st draft. Nothing more!

I am hoping that through this blog, I will take you through the publishing journey. Writing the book was the easiest part. The real pain starts after one has written the book. Either I will get published or else the PDF version of the book will be freely distributed. I will chronicle my journey whatever be the outcome. Success or failure, you will have the truth.

Stay tuned for the start of the journey as you see it from the eyes of a 1st time writer.

Copyright (c) Pigtale 2005-2010. Images copyright respective holders.

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