Category: Science Fiction Publisher: Divine Team Publishing through iUniverse
ISBN-10: 0595135129
Type: Fiction
Pages: 232
Copyright: Jan 1 1998
ISBN-13: 9780595135127
Evolution is an intriguing spiritual/science fiction novel that lets you see the world through Kelly McGrail, a down and out recovering alcoholic that finds the true meaning of evolution and how she's meant to be an integral part of the future of humankind.
Take a journey with an unlikely hero.
Kelly McGrail, a recovering alcoholic comes face to face with her sobriety, her mental health and her mortality only to find an otherwordly mentor, a being that wants to teach her how to show her fellow human beings the ways of the wise.
Though her own insecurity tells her that she's not worth the skin God put her in, her new friend, along with others show her the value of her existence and what it means to humankind.
This lost soul moves through a journey of hopelessness and despair to one of great importance, an evolution not to be missed, an evolution that can't be missed if we want to survive.
Excerpt
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Professional Reviews
New Concept of Evolution
Evolution is an interesting first novel by this author. I found it in the library but bought a copy for myself. The book is classed as science fiction but I think of it as a spiritual fiction(I don't think there's a genre for that but I saw some one else use that phrase on another book site). The story starts off with the miseries of a single woman recovering from alcoholism then ending up going on a wild ride with an alien. I think that's an original idea. Much of the story has original concepts that I haven't come across before. The book has been published through a new method. I'm always interested in new publishing methods as I've done some writing myself.
Fully Enjoyable
I got the book at the library but when my Internet book club decided to 'do' this book I bought it for my own collection. It's interesting work but what is more remarkable is the author's history and the style of writing and publishing she is using. I did see her on 'Oprah' about five months ago although she was not talking about this book. I'm looking forward to her next novel which is said to be classified as a horror. As far as recommending this book for others to read I would say yes, it's worth the effort and the cost(or you could go to the library).
Also recommended: The Ancient (Muriel-sorry don't remember the full name) Everything's Eventual by Stephen King
More than Science Fiction
I give this book my recommendations to anyone who likes science fiction with spiritual meaning interwoven throughout the story. That's what you get with this. Excellent characters. Very good read.
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Reviews for "Evolution"
Reviewed by Mary
8/5/2002
Excellent choice for reading. The book has alot going on and I read it twice. There were some errors in editing but I have heard that the author did the work herself with no other help, not an easy task when writing a book. The writing style is smooth and I too, look forward to her next works. I recommend reading this book and not only to sci fi fans but to anyone looking for spiritual meaning.
Reviewed by Arek Grzegorzak
8/1/2001
Firstly let me tell You that I want to make as sincere review as possible. I will write about good things but I’ll write about week points too. I have to add that being European (I live in Poland) my point of view and reception of the book can be slightly different than pov of US or Canada’s readers. Moreover I’m extremely subjective.
Just like everyone else ;-)
Let me start from the basics. I have to say that the book is nicely written. The style is – generally – smooth. I was reading it just after Gunslinger by King and there weren’t big differences between Jennifer MacDonald's and The Master of Horror's writing. I read it fast and with a pleasure ! On the other hand I found few little things/ logical errors that made me smile...For example there’s unintentionally (?) funny sentence on the page 13 “(...)I knew he was being honest. As afraid of his being in my house, I knew he was something more spectacular than a devil(...)”...Well... how does the character/author know how much spectacular a devil really is ?
The setting of the story is very believable. The alcoholic problems gives the main character - Kelly McGrail - more life, but the suspension of disbelieve is somehow knocked down when Kelly after the amazing/spectacular/one-of-the-kind/magical/wizardofozish/call-it-yourself trip came to an alien planet and instead of being totally scared or - in the best case scenario – thrilled by all new experience, (she) thinks “what this bizarre alien was talking about while referring to evolution ?”. A moment later she is interested who has the ownership of the outstanding bizarre house on the alien planet...If she was Lt. Robin “Flint” Peters ;-) – the space pilot who jumps from one planet to another and kills alien bastards - that would be fine... BUT...Kelly McGrail is human from nowadays and she has never been to different alien far-far away planet. Imagine yourself suddenly taken away to different dimension/Elysian Fields/planet. Realitywise full pants would be more possible than questions about ownership, analyzing the meaning of the words and down-to-earth thinking...
I know, I know : we can say in defense that her mind was controlled by mysterious character named Sacro, but this is a very weak excuse. So – I can’t help - according to me these two bits were very unbelievable. BUT, thanks God, this is the one and only weak point in story and later everything blooms beautifully. I like the master concept that stands behind the plot. I like the descriptions of places and characters. Especially Sacro (from Latin’s verb “sacrum” ?) rules.
Generally I noticed many similarities in EVOLUTION to classic utopias – especially Karol Fourier’s THEORIES DES QUATERE MOVEMENTS (1808), Bacon’s NEW ATLANTIS (1629 – if I remember well) and - of course – Thomas Moore’s work. So - to me - EVOLUTION is a modern utopia updated with sci-fi elements. This kind of stuff is pretty rare in genre so I’m more than satisfied with this novel.
All to all I would give EVOLUTION the strong “GOOD” mark. These flaws I mentioned don’t ruin the overall high quality of the book and I’m sure MacDonald's next work will be even better. Without any doubt there is great potential in her writing. I will tell more : can’t wait to see the next novel of this promising, talented (and so mysterious) Jennifer MacDonald.
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