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by Stephen YoullIt was the worst catastrophe the people of Earth had ever endured. In the summer of 2000 fragments of a rogue planet slammed into Earth. Billions were killed. The impact ravaged the earth, stopping its rotation. Now, twenty years later the remnants of humanity face total extinction. They live a primitive existence in a land divided into perpetual daylight, eternal twilight, and endless night. From each of these worlds comes a threat that could destroy what fragile civilization has survived.... A young man seeks his mother in the lawless terrors of the Darkzone, only to find horrors far worse than he could have imagined. A weary wanderer returns to a haven from his past, unwittingly leading a murderer to its unsuspecting people. And an impetuous explorer searches for treasures in a long-dead city, only to bring back an even more implacable killer: a plague called
RED SHADOWS
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by Danielle Tunstall
Published by from Bantam Books - November, 1998
ISBN 0-553-57749-2 -- 512 pages.
This novel is now out of print, but
you might be able to buy an autographed copy
through the Store.It is also available as an eBook in several different
formats from Crossroad Press.
Here's what DM Yorton had to say about Red Shadows on the At The Brink of Madness magazine site: "As an editor I have set a goal for myself to discover at least two new writers a month, not just for my stuff but also for my personal reading enjoyment. Living in a small town where the bookstore only carries King, Rice and Saul, this isn't an easy accomplishment. Then one day, driving around town to clear my head, I happened upon a small mom and pop used and new bookstore. Well, you can bet I jumped out of my car (after parking of course) and went inside.
Ahh, the smell of older books-- is there not a better aroma? My hands touched the books briefly as I went up and down the darkened aisles. Would here be where my discoveries lay? I turned the corner and there in front of me were two aisles filled with horror. My eyes scanned quickly the author's names. I didn't recognize half of them. I was in my own heaven finally.
This is where I discovered Yvonne Navarro. Two books, lined together, screamed out to me. I picked them up, glanced at the backs, glanced at the covers, and knew right then I found what I was looking for. A new treasure. Paid the lady and went home as quick as possible to dig up the X'S.
Final Impact and Red Shadows. A combination that is a must to read. You must read in order. The author announces you don't have to, but it is highly recommended. The books are so strongly character driven that if you jump into the second one you won't get the full impact of the characters' backgrounds.
Final Impact is the first, and has a time line that is easy to follow. It starts with the childhoods of the main characters and ends in the days after the "impact".
Usually when authors tell me everything about the characters since childhood I start to drift away, but not Ms. Navarro. Her characters come to life the moment you meet them. Also, the background check is highly needed so you, the reader, can understand the drive, the strength, and the pain of these characters.
Most books also try to make connections between characters but they lack that little something, making it sound real. Again, Ms. Navarro did this with all too much reality. You root for them to get together, to meet. You want these characters to become friends, lovers, and family. And that is what this book is mainly about, characters that are family in one sense or another, and survival.
Not survival because of the disaster, but survival in the sense of themselves as individuals. You can hear the characters cry out for each other, fight each other and fight themselves. You can hear the heavy footsteps as they struggle to live in the new world after the "impact". I don't want to give the whole story away, but I will tell you this much: if your fears are of the world coming to an end...then this book is for you, because the world may end, but mankind learns to survive.
The next part of this series is Red Shadows. It starts where Final Impact stops, and follows in the same footsteps, with strong characters and survival as the game. But unlike Final Impact, this book's timeline is longer in years. You have not only the main characters from the first book, but also their children, from childhood to adulthood.
You also get to meet different races in this book. Not the black or white kind, but the "vampires", "cannibals", and the "camouflage." Plus renegades, vigilantes and all the rest of the hard ball survivors. You still have the prejudice of mankind still in a new world. Very strong point made throughout the book.
You learn the secrets behind the main characters. You understand what really makes them tick and you also learn what makes yourself tick. A strong comeback from two books of fiction. I think Ms. Navarro must have studied psychology to get to the nitty gritty of people because a person cannot turn away from these books without a clamor of wanting and needing more. Of knowing these characters as if they were your family and friends.
In Red Shadows, there is a new character that strikes fear into the reader...the illness of Red Shadows, the plague, whatever you want to call it. I called it the fall of mankind. You want to know the whys, hows and wheres of this plague -- does it kill your characters? The scary thing is, "Red Shadows" might be right around our own corners without our knowledge..."
Start with the Foreword and Prologue and find the answer to that all important question: Do I have to read Final Impact first?
An autographed copy of this out of print book
can be ordered right Here,
using your Visa, Mastercard, Discover
or PayPal.com Account!
All text copyright © by Yvonne Navarro. Don't be naughty-- no reprinting or use in any form whatsoever without prior written permission of the starving author. We mean it. We know lots of lawyers. And we ain't afraid to use them.
