Which Art in Hope
When the Federation fled Earth they had only the slimmest chance of finding a habitable world. 544 years later they found one; they named it Hope. However, Hope isn’t what it seemed. Earth plants wither; livestock fail to breed. For 40 precarious years they subsist until a secret Cabal learns how to elevate powerful psi talents to the management of Hope's crust. But after 1,200 years of abundance the pool of psi adepts has dwindled to two. One is utterly unwilling and the other is murderously insane. The survival of Mankind hangs in the balance.
This is a great sci-fi novel with a strong dose of science, an engaging plot, and excellent prose. The plot revolves around two young psychics who are needed to run the planet's agricultural system. The underlying reason for why the planet is inimical to agriculture elevates the plot to a fascinating level. Most of the minor characters are developed with sufficient detail and back-stories to portray light- and dark-gray characters, although the dark side of some characters was pushed a little too far for my liking. The ending was in character but was not the ending I wanted. I don’t mean that in a negative sense; it is a good, heart-stirring ending, to an excellent sci-fi novel. I recommend this book.
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Which Art in Hope
good stuff....
Well Done SciFi Tale
Excellent story about characters and not all about high tech. We all need a little hope and sometimes a well written book takes you there and lets you escape real life -- like this one. Read it. It's a great story.
Best book I have read in a LONG time!
Thankyou SO much for sharing this wonderful novel. Sci-fi is not my usual read, but I may now be converted. The story flowed so easily, the characters become real and the plot was unique with the details and futuristic differences well thought out. The ending, although not what I expected (or wanted) was realistic and as it should have been. After all, not everything in the "real world" turns out the way we would like :)
I especially enjoyed the biblical similarities. Very clever and thought provoking.
You are an exceptional author and I am extremely keen to read anything and everything else you have written.
Thank you!
Dear Barb,
First and above all, thank you for your extremely kind words. Second, I must tell you that at this time, "Which Art In Hope" is my only SF novel, though I do plan a sequel, tentatively titled "Liberty's Torch." My other books are mainly contemporary supernatural fantasy, but I can hope you would enjoy them too. Third, not everything I've written is here at Bibliotastic. Visit Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com) for my other novels and stories. Fourth, thanks again, most sincerely, and be well!
All my best,
Fran Porretto
Superb Story
Superb Story with a surprise ending, Keep writing Francis... You have a God given gift
Great read
I couldn't put it down! This is a well written book; the plot makes sense and is well developed. However, the final part of the ending was a bit disappointing. It ended more or less as expected but sort of left things hanging... Anyway, it was a great read and a book that I will reread.
If this is typical of his work I would certainly read more of Franks books!
Mike
Which Art In Hope
Thank you, Mike. Sadly, I must report that "Which Art In Hope" is not typical of my fiction. It's my only SF novel to date, though I hope eventually to write a sequel to it (working title: "Liberty's Torch"). Most of my fiction is contemporary supernatural fantasy, laced with Christian themes (though not polemic). You might like it, but there are no guarantees.
Thank you for your kind words.
All my best,
Francis W. Porretto
Curmudgeon Emeritus to the World Wide Web
Christian themes
That makes sense; I had wondered if Francis Poretto was the Frank Peretti who wrote The Oath and Prophet as the style was similar in a way, (both were great reads) - in fact it was the similarity in the names that prompted me to download Which art in Hope in the first place. I look forward to the sequel!!
Mike
Sequels and Their Travails
(chuckle) No, I'm not Frank Peretti, though I could wish to have as large a readership as he does. Don't be embarrassed; you're not the first to wonder, and our names are very similar.
"Liberty's Torch" is costing me some difficulty, for two reasons. First, the original planned motivation for the main character, Armand and Teresza's granddaughter Althea, was to determine what has become of Mankind on Earth -- but as I've reflected on it, it's seemed ever more to me that that's not really her motivation. Althea is a genius-level polymath, supremely capable in a number of fields. Such a character would naturally be possessed by a powerful desire to "spread her wings" in every way possible; fulfilling her grandparents' wishes would be only one component among others, and not necessarily a major one. So I've been casting about for a way to broaden her scope while still making the pilgrimage to Earth a principal plot driver.
Second, my "Realm of Essences" series of contemporary supernatural fantasies -- "Chosen One," "On Broken Wings," and "Shadow Of A Sword" -- has been tremendously successful, and my readers have been flogging me to produce a fourth book. (Working title: "At The Gates Of The City") That, too, is proving to be slow going -- I tied off all the major themes in the third book and am having trouble crafting a satisfying plot -- and it's "helping" to slow down everything else I'm trying to do!
Ah, well. These should only be my worst problems, right? Hang in there, and there will be a sequel to "Which Art In Hope." But it could take a while, so you might want to pick up a couple dozen other books while you wait.
All my best,
Fran Porretto
http://eternityroad.info
A human story set in another world
The characters are what makes this novel tangible and gripping. Simple battles are fought on the school-front, starting with two men fighting over a girl, and then two girls competing for a man. Far from being petty, deep human traits are revealed in these interactions- aggression, self-worth, love and a stoicism in our quiet but true Armand.
I only meant to read a few pages, but could not put down the 'screen' (reading it online!) Well written and recommended.