The Quest for Home – Prehistoric Fiction

Prehistoric fiction is a literary genre in which the story is set in the period of time prior to the existence of written record. If you haven’t read this genre, just check how Jacqui Murray has brilliantly explored it in her books. The Quest for Home is the second book in series. I have read and reviewed Born in Treacherous Times (Dawn of Humanity) and Survival of the Fittest (the Crossroads Trilogy.)

Chased by a ruthless and powerful enemy, Xhosa flees with her People, leaving behind her African homeland, leading her People on a grueling journey through unknown and perilous lands. As they struggle to overcome treachery, lies, danger, tragedy, hidden secrets, and Nature herself, Xhosa must face the reality that her most dangerous enemy isn’t the one she expected. It may be one she trusts with her life. 

The story is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, the one destined to obliterate any who came before.

Based on a true story, this is the unforgettable saga of hardship and determination, conflict and passion as early man makes his way across Eurasia, fleeing those who would kill him. He must be bigger-than-life, prepared time and again to do the impossible because nothing less than the future of mankind is at stake.

Book information:
 Title and author: The Quest for Home
Series: Book 2 in the Crossroads series, part of the Man vs. Nature saga
Genre: Prehistoric
Available at: Kindle US   Kindle UK   Kindle CA   Kindle AU

My Review:

The Quest for Home (Book 2 of Crossroads trilogy) by Jacqui Murray continues the journey of Xhosa despite the losses she had suffered when the rafts crashed due to the storm. She had to wait till her group had healed, to restock food and weapons in preparation for departure. A trusted leader, determined to fight the perils, crawling up mountains, slipping down into valleys, following the sun, she leads her people with unwavering confidence. There are conflicts within the group to remain powerful, reminiscent of basic human traits.

It is interesting to note that discrimination, one-upmanship, slavery, selfishness, and revenge are as old as those people who inhabited this earth 850,000 years ago. It is not easy to write such a story but Murray could weave it brilliantly, throwing in many characters quite similar to what we know about human beings. You must read these books in order to appreciate the comfort and security that we take for granted. Highly recommended with 5 stars!

Meet the Author:

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, In the Footsteps of Giants, Winter 2020, the final chapter in the Crossroads Trilogy.

Contact Links:

Amazon Author Page
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Book Review: Emerging From Shadows – Poetry by Balroop Singh

I am pleased to share this glowing review of my poetry by James J. Cudney (the creator of Braxton Campus Mysteries) while I prepare to launch ‘Moments We Love,’ my new poetry book next week.

This Is My Truth Now

Emerging From Shadows : Poetry by Balroop Singh by Balroop Singh
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Poetry is an inspirational and emotive format that allows writers to express a myriad of ideas and images percolating inside their minds. Balroop Singh takes this skill to new heights in her collection of poems entitled ‘Emerging From Shadows.’ This is the second book I’ve read from the author, but it will not be the last. I’ve previously read a non-fiction, self-help book focused on how to be a better person, and I’ve also perused many of her regular blog posts. If you’re looking for advice, beautiful imagery, or a wonderful spectrum of emotions, you should dive into her work.

The first thing that strikes me with many of these poems is the vocabulary. Singh has an immense handle on the English language; students and authors needing to expand their word choice and…

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Words Bind us in a Strange Bond…

I have never come across a more comprehensive analysis of my poetry. This review of my latest poetry book ‘Timeless Echoes’ at insaneowl.com by Fiza Pathan has enlightened me about my own poems! I am amazed at her interpretations and had to go back to those poems to understand them anew after reading her thoughts about them. I have realized how vague thoughts speak differently to readers, refreshing their own memories!

‘My First Love’ is one such abstract poem, where my love for books is expressed through metaphors but has been construed differently. I am delighted to note that my poetry has been called “therapeutic,” “a soothing balm to the spirit of a poetry lover.”

Though Fiza has copyrighted her review, I take this liberty to quote her:

“These poems are tender, soothing and beautiful, and a must read for all of us poetry lovers stuck on our old memories and times not forgotten. I really think Balroop should go in for poetry therapy because her poems really are like the soothing touch of a grandmother’s gentle hand on a fevered brow.”

Thank you so much Fiza, for your critique. We may be sitting at the extreme corners of the globe but words bind us in a strange bond.

Please click here to read the full review of Timeless Echoes by Fiza Pathan.

Image: © Fiza Pathan

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The NEA reports an increased interest in poetry.

Balroop Singh.

Book Review: Timeless Echoes by Balroop Singh

Maniparna’s reviews are a delight to read! Her eclectic prose and poetry would allure you! I am elated at her beautiful words that describe my poetry!

Her choice of words and excerpts, the quote that she has used to describe my book has taken me over to the moon! I am glad she has savoured the poems slowly…they can be read again and again and I too derive solace from some of them whenever I read them. “Some hues of life change from time to time, but eventually, their changing shades are etched in our hearts. Balroop has given words to those shades, those emotions of life.”…love that description Mani!
Many thanks!

Scattered Thoughts

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested”– this quote of Francis Bacon immediately came to my mind after I finished reading Balroop Singh’s latest collection of poems, “Timeless Echoes”.

I was quite busy for a couple of months and during those days, whenever I managed some “me time”, I used to read a few poems from the book. I could have read the book all in a go; the poems are neither big nor complicated, but I wanted to savour their myriad flavours, wished them to linger in my mind. That’s the way Balroop composed her poems, as Bacon had said, her book is meant to be chewed and digested. [Balroop’s poems are a pleasure to read, I already know that as I follow her blog regularly and, have reviewed her previous book Emerging From Shadows.]

The…

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‘Timeless Echoes’ is Here!

Timeless Echoes is just a click away now. Click on the link to download it and hear the echoes that would reverberate around you, reminding you of lost opportunities, repressed desires, cherished moments and hope that shimmers through clouds.

Here are all the links:

US UK DE FR ES IT NL JP BR CA MX AU IN

When Echoes Vibrate

Lilies in the garden spoke to me
Birds sang merrily
Clouds of gloom disintegrated
When I let these echoes vibrate

Mute watchers warbled
Fluttering fervently around me
Stirring hopeful messages
Of joy and bliss

When smoke of your love
Tried to asphyxiate me
When dreams got besieged
I flew on the wings of words

Fears receded when
Sun spread its gold
Creating a fusion of colors
Silently illuminating life.© Balroop Singh

The Editor’s Review:

Half of what we say are lies although they might be considered true, but truth with one’s self is an accepted bundle of lies except for those rare moments of self-realization. These lines right at the start of Timeless Echoes, ‘Each moment is precious, we try to cage it within our heart, where it perches in perfect rampart, embalmed by memories,’ reveal how this book is a healer, promising to lay bare the ills of the soul as it soothes, cleanses, and nurtures; instilling in us a will to learn and live without fear, and a will to not hurt others: ‘Why can’t our hearts feel the hurt we hurl at others?’

Balroop’s new book is a steadfast repudiation of those ills that we painfully hide under the covers of our flesh to present the polished exterior as truth. This magnetic collection of poems highlights our precious human lives with all their varied emotions and imposing relations: the lives often blinded by the strictures of the self-made duplicity, an excessively common phenomenon. ‘Listen to your heart, my friend. It knows you well,’ she writes.

I treasure these ‘forgetting fragile facets of love, facade of fading memories, echoes of dwindling love, is all I have now, yet love echoes refuse to subside’ believing that love echoes are soul-launched signals, ready to hug our pretenses to forge a divine assimilation because the struggle has always been with the self that we excommunicate to build up a wall, which obscures the travails plaguing the core. And finding a path to the core is the cure since there’s no villainy in the soul.

As Balroop proclaims ‘love is such a strange emotion, it gives less, it claims more…the facade of love is so delusive,’ I concur how our infirmities require urgent banishment, more pressing now than ever. And once I’ve made peace with the self, ‘the dark corridors are like meadows, they glow with my presence.’ Yes, without an iota of my own falsehoods plaguing me.
–  Mahesh Nair

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Balroop Singh.