• Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Tahlia Newland

Editor, Author & Artist

  • Editing Services
  • Me & My Creative Life
    • My Books
      • Metaphysical Fiction
    • My Poetry
    • My Masks
    • My Hats
    • Permaculture, Forest & Garden
    • Performing Arts
  • Blog
  • Contact

Dystopian review: The Amplified by Lauren M. Flauding

April 7, 2017 by Tahlia Newland

Dystopian review: The Amplified by Lauren M. Flauding

BUY NOW This young adult dystopian novel has all the elements you would expect from the genre: an advanced society with different classes of citizens, limited education, a highly regulated and tightly controlled life style with limited personal freedom, and a protagonist who begins to discover that what they thought was a pretty good life is not as it seems. The world of The Amplified is one where at a certain age people have the right to become Amplified by a small plate fixed to their brain behind their ear. When they give it instructions, this device amplifies their abilities making them almost super-human, but, as in any good dystopian novel, amplification comes at a price. There is a device that overrides individual instructions and makes the person follow orders that are supposedly only used when the protection of the realm requires a co-ordinated effort that is beyond what could be taught and perfected in the time available. It sounds like a valid reason, but it makes our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 stars, Dystopian, Reviews, Science Fiction Tagged With: dystopian, Science fiction

Fascinating Dystioian fiction: ‘Future Prometheus: Emergence & Evolution’ by J.M Erickson

March 4, 2014 by Tahlia Newland

Future Prometheus: Emergence & Evolution by J.M Erickson is a fascinating dystopian story about a world after a virus has sent all sexually active men on a violent rampage that ends up with most of them, and a large proportion of the female and child population, dead. The events in the book occur 140 years after this event and follow Melendez, a soldier, who, along with some APs  (androids) wishes to re-establish a society based on the values of the old USA. He's been in stasis in a cyrogenic tank since the disaster, though he was supposed to be under for only four months. A group of androids find him and bring him back. They become his friends, and he develops a program to bring them to sentience and eventually to sapience. He finds himself in a matriarchal, lesbian society. The women keep their boy children only long enough to harvest their sperm when they reach maturity, after which the women take them outside their megastate and kill them. Some girls are also discarded - the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dystopian, Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, book review blogs, dystopian, Fantasy novels review blogs, Science fiction

A rare book I can’t fault: Waning Moon by P.J Sharon: YA Dystopian.

October 30, 2013 by Tahlia Newland

Waning Moon is simply excellent, a rare book that I can't fault. It's set in the future in a small town outside of Albany after a virus has killed a large part of the earth's population. The cities are run by a Dystopian government. If you stay in the town, you get fed, clothed and have access to medical care, but you do what the governments wants. Those who live outside the cities choose freedom over security. Lily, her brother and her uncle, Sam, live well camouflaged in the forest. They have to stay away from the authorities because Lily and her little brother have genetic modifications that make them very useful to the authorities. Lily can heal and her brother can kill with a touch - or two, or three. Those living outside the cities have to occasionally travel to markets inside the city to trade for the things they can't provide for themselves and the story begins with Lily preparing to take such a trip. A few days before she is about to leave, she finds another teen fallen in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 stars, Dystopian, Reviews, YA fantasy Tagged With: 5 stars, Book Review, dystopian, Fantasy novels, Fantasy novels review blogs, young adult

Excellent YA Dystopian: Deviation by Christine Manzari

October 1, 2013 by Tahlia Newland

The idea of genetically modified teens being used as weapons is not a new idea. Kimberley Kinrade wrote a series on this theme some time ago, and I've read quite a few YA books recently about teens with genetic modifications.  It's not surprising since genetic modification for humans is emerging as a very real possibility in our society, and I expect we will see more fiction in this vein. Although it shares many overly common elements of YA fantasy, for example a new school, a supposedly bad boy that is hard to resist, and the resident bully who seems to need little inspiration for their nastiness,  Deviation is still an excellent, well-crafted story that keeps you hooked in and has a surprising twist at the end that leaves the story nicely  set up for sequels.  I think this book will be well enjoyed by YA speculative fiction fans. Cleo lives in a world of the future where terrorism has made huge scars on the American people and cities. She is a sophisticate, someone genetically … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dystopian, Reviews, YA fantasy Tagged With: Book Review, dystopian, Fantasy novels, Fantasy novels review blogs, young adult

Fiction with meaning

June 6, 2012 by Tahlia Newland

In a recent post I talked about literature as being not so much a genre as a description of quality within a genre. I based that post on the Concise Oxford Dictionary definition of  literature, but the term is also often used to refer to writing that has some sort of meaning, often a social, political or spiritual comment. Literature is thought to raise issues and that’s one of the reasons why people like to use the term literature as something separate to popular fiction which often does make no attempt to impart meaning. However, just because some popular fiction doesn’t impart meaning doesn’t mean that all popular fiction is devoid of meaning, or that lack of meaning is necessarily a mark of the category. Take The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. You could consider it literary young adult dystopian because despite what you may think of it personally it is well written it has a powerful emotional effect on readers it makes a political statement The political statement gives … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book talk Tagged With: dystopian, fiction, literature, meaning, political message, something worth saying, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, young adult

Search

Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. 

DOWNLOAD  NOW

Alliance of Independent Authors

Alliance of Independent Authors

Click HERE to see all my books.

Books
Reviews, Writing, Cats & Contemplation
Editing

Click HERE to subscribe to my newsletter and get my fantasy novel Lethal Inheritance FREE. 

How to Meditate – the crucial points

See more

Hi I’m Tahlia Newland

I can help you express yourself and share your story with the world.

 

Do you want to write a really good story and have it professionally polished and published?

As an editor, I help you be the best writer you can possibly be. I strengthen your voice, support your vision and can assist you all the way to publication.

On my blog you’ll find book reviews, writer’s tips, contemplative articles on meditation and working with your mind, and occaisonally pictures of my Burmese cats.

If you’re interested mostly in my contemplative articles then  Sign up to the Living in Peace & Clarity Newsletter to get those articles delivered by email. And check out the resources on my Living in Peace and Clarity Page.

I do a lot of community work involving blogging and general support for Buddhist students processing revelations of abuse in their spiritual communities.  Please consider supporting me to continue this work.

Occiasonally, when inspired and not too busy with community work, I make masks.

All my books are

Visit my Mask & Steampunk Accessories Shop

2015-03-19 15.46.12
Blue Burmese
Like cats in stories? Check out my books. And click the photo to read the cat colomn.

Click Here for More Articles in This Series

Book reviews – sci fi, fantasy, literary fiction, Buddhist fiction and related non-fiction

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

The High Priestess: Persephone’s Return is the third book in Val Tobin’s Tales from the Unmasqued World Series, and in it she deepens and expands the stories from the previous two book. The book has two central story arcs based around characters we’ve met before. One arc follows Kelsey (a human) who is with Josh […]

More Posts from this Category

My gorgeous Burmese cats

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Yesterday I did a photoshoot for my renovated website. Take a look around, particulary at the home page (Click on my name at the top to go there). It’s designed for editing clients with my books secondary because I need to focus on the part of this publishing business that actually earns me more than […]

More Posts from this Category

Seven of my novels have an Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence

Four of my books earned BRAG Medallions

I abide by the ethical author code

I'm an Ethical Author
Alliance of Independent Authors

Copyright

All material on this website is under copyright to Tahlia Newland and cannot be shared without written permission.

  • Editing Services
  • About Me
  • My Books
  • My Masks
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Amoré Theme by Oh, Hello Designs on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

FREE Novel Revision Checklist

Written a book? Need some help reviewing and revising it? Download my Novel Revision Checklist for step by step guidance.  

DOWNLOAD NOW

no thanks

{"cookieName":"wBounce","isAggressive":false,"isSitewide":true,"hesitation":"120","openAnimation":false,"exitAnimation":false,"timer":"","sensitivity":"","cookieExpire":"7","cookieDomain":"","autoFire":"","isAnalyticsEnabled":false}

Please note: I am closed for holidays from Christmas day until Jan 30th 2023. Dismiss