Week 4 of Monster’s First Blog Tour comes to an end! What happened this week, you ask?
Stephanie at ¡Miraculous! parts company from most reviewers in that she found the journey underwhelming, though she did enjoy the socio-political commentary.
Charlinder’s Walk is a quickly paced, fairly easy read that makes me want to jump into arguments about all the global and political affairs it bestows. Kudos to Miers for being able to fit all that into one storyline and still make it relevant, and even more impressively, enjoyable. This isn’t just a cheesy read; it actually has substance.
Lissette Manning says:
This was quite a thought-provoking book. Granted, it’s just fiction, but certain aspects of it make the reader wonder ‘What if?’ Heavily fortified with religious themes, the reader finds him/herself immersed in a world that’s very much possible in this day and age. Alyson has painted a very vivid picture of a world in which we’re able to feel each character pain and insecurities.
Ajoop at On Books! has…a great deal to say about this book:
Charlinder WALKS across three continents… that’s right, walks!… over the span of three years with only a sheep, Queen Anne’s Lace or Lacey for short as his companion.
He sure does! The title refers to a very…long…walk, and without a big strong pack animal to carry his gear.
It was an amazing journey, especially the journey back to North America when I could feel the growth in him and how his experiences had caused him to question his role in the world rather than just the state of the world! It was a teary, difficult and realistically long journey and I loved the insights, details and richness of it!
I want you to pay Ajoop a visit and read the full review. Her enjoyment is infectious, though it’s possible I’m a tad biased.
Becca at My Life With Boys and Books is equally enthusiastic, saying that she wanted the book to keep going, and for a book of this length, that is extravagant praise:
…a book that makes us think that deep is one to treasure. I would love to see this book widely read. It is timely and well written. It showcases some of the best of indie writing and publishing. If you have read it, pass it along. That’s what Charlinder would have wanted.
Thank you, Becca!
Emlyn Chand recommends Charlinder’s Walk for book clubs and Sociology classes:
I have a master’s in sociology, and I hardly ever have the opportunity to use it. Charlinder’s Walk brought my repressed educational knowledge back to the surface, reminding me why I loved sociology enough to study it for 6 years running. During Charlinder’s journey he comes across many isoloated communities of survivors–each is small, each has developed independently of the rest, and each is informed by the pre-plague culture of the region (i.e. India, China, Alaska). Charlinder confronts gender issues, division of labor, racism and segregation, varying family models, and oh-so-much more. This book would be an EXCELLENT selection for a sociology class at either the undergraduate or graduate level. The over-arching question is not, what caused the plague, but rather what caused society to develop in the way it did, and what might happen in our real world if a similar epedemic set us back several centuries?
Oh, yes, this is a novel for thinking. With smooth prose and a few heart-wrenching moments, Charlinder’s Walk makes a fantastic read if you’re willing to take the time to thoroughly process it. Charlinder didn’t walk across the world in a day, nor can you read about his adventure in such a short period of time. Life isn’t about the destination, after all. Enjoy the journey; enjoy the read and the inevitable introspection that comes along with it. I did.
Thank you, Em!
Kimberly at Turning the Pages gives us a quick, though enthusiastic review.
I really liked the whole cast of them because they seemed to jump off the page, the whole story did for me actually jumped off the page and I really felt as though I was there with Charlinder as he was on his journey of self discovery.
And furthermore:
From the first page I was completely drawn into Charlinder’s post plague world. I think that the author Alyson Miers is an amazing new talent and I wish more people were aware of her book because it is a thrilling read. I hope she continues writing since she certainly has a gift for the written word.
I most certainly intend to keep writing, and thanks for your support!
Jessica, the Guardian of the Crossroads, asks me some questions about my novel:
Why did you choose a male character to write about.Charlinder was the character who presented himself to me for this coming-of-age tale. Why a female protagonist didn’t occur to me probably has a lot to do with why female protagonists aren’t already more represented in hero’s quest tales. If I’d written Charlotte’s Walk instead, it would have taken some more doing to explain why a post-apocalyptic agrarian community would allow a young woman to walk out, with the intention of crossing three continents, and possibly never return.
I think this is worthy of a longer answer, but not today. I intend to devote a few more blog posts to talking about Charlinder’s Walk in more detail.
The tour isn’t quite finished yet. I have a Twitterview with Novel Publicity at 4 PM (EST) today. Watch me scramble to fit maximum brazenness into 140 characters at a time. Search #emlyn to follow along.
