This book wasn't originally listed in my Summer Book Club list but I wanted to add it because it's very special to me since one of my (favorite) high school teachers wrote it! This is her debut novel and it is such a fantastic start. Interview with the Author {J.E. Byrne}Me: Which character do you relate to most? Also, were any of the characters based on real people you have interacted with? J.E. Byrne: I mostly relate to Sarah because she represents many of my own personal flaws and struggles. Writing her character forced me to be honest with issues I faced during my ‘coming of age’ years, and some of the lighter things that happened to her did happen to me! The other characters represent groups of people I know, but not specific individuals. Me: Do you feel like your experience as a high school teacher has helped you to write from a high school aged female's perspective? Were you inspired at all by your students? J.E. Byrne: Being a high school English teacher definitely helped me write from a high school perspective. I thoroughly enjoy young adults and their unique take on things from the serious to the silly. Teaching in the humanities allows me to really hear what young adults think and feel about the world around them, and I am continuously grateful to them for allowing me to share in their world. Me:In Dead Land a lot of characters really struggle with "what's the point?" moments. What do you believe motivates people to survive in a disaster/post-apocalypse situation? J.E. Byrne: What a great question! This is actually a major theme in the series, that I have to say was sparked by Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and even the graphic novel series, The Walking Dead. I am completely taken with the question of what is inherent in humanity that makes us hope, even in seemingly hopeless circumstances. For me, it is that we are created in the image of God. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Me: There are many stark contrasts between the main characters, who are mostly kind and helpful to strangers they meet on their journey, and people like looters, rapists, and cannibals that they meet along the way. What do you think differentiates the type of people who in a disaster situation act kind and and help others, like the main characters in Dead Land, in contrast with people who create further destruction like looters and cannibals? Do you think there is a way to tell who these people are before disaster strikes? J.E. Byrne: It is no coincidence that the ‘explosion’ happens at 3:10 on a Saturday morning. The folks outside at that time (the survivors) would be either hard core, or just some innocents (like most of our main characters) caught outside at the wrong (or perhaps right) time. It is then the crucible of the apocalypse that refines individuals into their chosen path of good or evil. I’m not sure we can tell people’s ultimate paths until they are put to the test. Some of the characters in Dead Land may surprise you as the series continues. Me: Did you do any special research to prepare for writing this book? J.E. Byrne: Thank goodness for the Internet! Research was a huge part of the process. I read large sections of the Old and New Testament for Sarah’s cryptic messages and shared dreams. In addition, I used several sites to anticipate geographic locations, time frames, and pictures of landscapes and specific buildings our characters encounter along the way. As far as the literary allusions, well, being an English teacher certainly helped me enjoy referencing Gatsby, Eliot, Dante and others. Thanks Natalie! I have book club questions, activities and a suggested soundtrack on my author website: www.authorjebyrne. My Discussion Questions [spoilers]I'll start with a juicy one. Who would you choose David or Lance?I personally am leaning toward Lance. I feel like David is more trustworthy and probably a better guy but Lance just seems really hot and I really like his protective side. Plus he's already expressed his feeling for Sarah and is very open about them. David is very wishy washy about his feelings. Same question I asked to J.E. Byrne, what determines how a person reacts to a disaster?I think that all of us have a "dark" side that we either show or we hide. I think when you're faced with a survival situation your "dark" side tends to reveal it's self and that's what determines whether you're a "good guy" or "bad guy". I think that this also deals with a topic that a lot of survival shows/books/movies deal with and that is loosing your humanity. I think humanity is kindness, compassion, caring and survival is food, water, shelter which are animalistic (made up word I think) traits. Food, water, and shelter are important but at what cost? If you were faced with starving to death or cannibalism which would you choose? I'm pretty sure we would all say starving to death but actually put us in that situation and who knows what could happen. Why do you think that certain people are "chosen"? Why these people?So I think it's pretty clear that David, Sarah, and Jack are "chosen". Is anyone else? I'm not sure about that. I kind of think no, and I also think those will be the only ones to make it to the mountain. I think these people were "chosen" because they are the most pure of heart. I think this will appear more as time goes on. Do you think the time of the explosion has an impact on what kind of people survived? (stolen from J.E. Byrne's blog)For sure! During my reading I noticed that there is a really stark difference between the types of people outside at the time of the explosion (3:10 am). I think that's because typically at that time the people who are out are not good guys. But there is clearly a population of people who are good guys who just happened to be caught outside. I think that maybe this apocalypse could be a second chance for the "bad guys" caught outside, they could leave their whole old life behind, bad choices and all. Prediction Questions [definitely spoilers]Do you think that Leah was murdered or killed herself and why?I think she killed herself. I'm not exactly sure why but I think it has to do with the reason why she seemed like she hated Sarah. One prediction of the reason why she appeared to hate Sarah is because of the baby. At one point in the book she said "She's the one. She's the one that's going to change everything." and I think that was some sort of reference to Sarah being pregnant. Why do you think that Sarah is able to keep perfect time?This is something I honestly have no clue about. I think that since Sarah doesn't have as many "visions" or dreams as the others that this is kind of her tie to the paranormal stuff that is going on. I think somewhere down the line it is going to play a huge part. Will Sarah and Lance return to the group?I think they will eventually. I'm not sure if they are after finding Leah but I think somewhere along their journey south that Sarah will have another dream or vision and want to go back. How they will be able to find the group again is another mystery. Who out of the current group is going to make it to the mountain and will they be joined by anyone else along the way?I think only David, Sarah, and Jack are going to make it to the mountain. I think this since they are the only ones to have concrete visions of it. I'm not sure if any new characters will be joining the group on their journey but I'm excited to see! More informationThis book was really fantastic. I couldn't put it down and it surprised me at every turn of a page. I definitely suggest it! If you would like to read it here is a link to amazon. Here is a link to the Author's site that has lots of great reading tools for not just Dead Land but other books too. And here is a link to a list of the dream cast of the Dead Land movie (which crossing my fingers will happen some day). I referenced this link a lot while reading because it really helped me to put a face to the characters (especially the hot guys). Also the next book in the series is coming out in December of this year so make sure to keep your eye out for Hollow Land around that time. Let me know if you read Dead Land and what you think! xoxo Natalie
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Ok so this post is for the whole divergent series because I just finished it over the long weekend. Basically what I'm going to do is post discussion questions about the book and or it's themes and answer them and then do a little review of the book. Please if you've read the book, tell me your answers to the questions too because I don't have answers to them they are things I thought while reading the books and want to discuss them. Spoilers beyond this point!1. Do you think that when people are strong in one thing it usually means they sacrifice another quality?I found it really interesting that they talked about the strengths of the factions but also the weaknesses that those strengths bring. I don;t remember what they are exactly but something like with truth comes a lack of compassion, and with bravery there is a lack of mercy, stuff like that. And it made me think about personality types and how for every strength there is a weakness and I think that's why no one is perfect. It's kind of like the Sims where you only have a certain amount of green things and you have to choose how to distribute them among good personality traits. 2. Since Tobias isn't really Divergent what gene do you think he has that is extra strong or "impure"?I thought about this a lot when it was first revealed that Tobias wasn't actually divergent, he just was able to resist the simulations really well. I wondered what faction he would have gotten from his test if he wasn't able to resist the serum. Every time I think about this I have a hard time trying to pin him down because his character doesn't really fit into one personality type which makes me think that that is part of the theme. Maybe the test could only tell so much, like which characteristic is strongest, not necessarily which you solely possess. I think that the people in the book fit into their test results because they were told those were their test results. Kind of a placebo effect. And those who were told they were divergent realized their full potential by not trying to conform into a mold. I think this shows that the difference between GD and GP was just in everyone's head the whole time. 3. How easy is self sacrifice when you know it's for the greater good?I really liked that the author brought this up in the book when the characters were all sitting around waiting for someone to volunteer to go in the weapons room where they know they'll die from the death serum. Even when you know that sacrificing one life in order to save hundreds, or thousands, or millions it's still hard to decide which life it'll be. I think that this is because, to me, all life is precious. Also, you never know the repercussions of one person's death. I also like that the author talked about when it's ok to let someone sacrifice their life for you and that was when it was an act of love, not a way to get out of guilt. 4. Can a good quality also be a bad trait?I think everyone can agree that selflessness, truth, knowledge, kindness, and bravery are all good qualities to have but do they have downsides? Can they turn into bad qualities when taken to extremes? This kind of ties into the first question but more like "is it possible to have too much of a good thing?" I think that no good quality can stand alone, which is why the faction system is flowed. I think all those qualities are the ones that are important to a "perfect" society but also none of them can be isolated. You need to have all qualities to be a perfectly balanced and stable person. Like truth is good but there also needs to be compassion because the truth can hurt too. Just like bravery and selflessness only work when they are together. 5. Is peace possible?I don't think so. In order for true peace to occur everyone has to think the same so that there isn't any conflict. In order for this to happen people need to give up their free will which I think is the whole conflict of using the memory serum. I think a lot of times there is a struggle between peace and free will, which is sad because a utopia would have both. If you think of any other questions or have a response comment below I would love to discuss with you!I thought this series was really good! It was a fast read and was really entertaining. It was very stereotypical scifi/post-apocalypse teen novel though so if you're expecting some ground breaking new book this is not the way to go. But if you like this sort of thing then this gives a new twist to a kind of beaten to death genre. Other similar suggestions I have are the Hunger Games series and the Uglies series (I think Uglies is my favorite of the three). Let me know what you think!
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A little about meNatalie. 26. Mechanical engineer. Mining and Minerals Engineering graduate from Virginia Tech. I love pugs, pink, crafting, feminism, makeup, and reading. Archives
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