Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Reading: Unbound Boxes Limping Gods: Anastasia Merevija


Unbound Boxes   
  Limping Gods:

Anastasia Merevija




By Cheryl Moore


Time Line: 4018, Poland

Right Now! Cheryl is on vacation in Ireland! Wow!




Anastasia was stolen from her family when she was five, and forced to live as a concubine. From the age of fourteen she has produced children for the Amanojuko Lord, Ichitumbu. The Amanojuko are a race of immortals who have the ability to regenerate. They are no longer human, but Anastasia’s mother,Alexand Merek’s blood, is poison to them and can turn them into ‘What isn’t’. Amanojuko scientists are using Anastasia to attempt to find a cure for the poison in Alexand Merek’s bloodline. Anastasia has no concept of death and therefore no concept of murder. “What wasn’t” is an Amanojuko term for human and “What could be” refers to the potential for Anastasia producing an Amanojuko child. So far she has failed and her husband isn’t pleased.


Ichitumbu is an immortal, from a race of people called The Amanojuko. Chop his arm off, it’ll grow back. He is the husband of Anastasia Merevija, the abducted daughter of Alexand Merek. He spends his life moving from one country to the next, attempting to prevent Alexand and her sister Heyem, stealing Anastasia back from him.



As earlier, readers may wish to click over to Cheryl's Blog to more easily read the linked stories!

My Thoughts:

This time I've read beyond the time frame I've been following--I had to read about this man Ichitumbu who abducted his wife, Anastasia, but finds it frustrating that her mother and aunt follow/track them, wanting to free her. He is immortal, but seems afraid of them, else why should he run.

Anastasia exhibits the trait of believing what she has been told by her abductor--she believes Alexand  did not want her. I wonder whether he links their constant relocations or knows that they are constantly pursued, her mother hoping to free her.

I am intrigued by the "blood" of Alexand being poison to the immortals... I would think that both Ancilla and Anastasia carry the same blood even though Ichitumbu threatens his wife's trade for her sister. It is hard to understand her seeming(?) acceptance of her husband's constant murder of her children when they are born human

Bringing in immortality for characters is new...are they the more traditional gods like Zeus, etc., or are they more vampirish... At first I didn't understand the "paintings" that were not yet accepted...then I got it. Can you imagine repainting parts of the world? 

Questions for Cheryl:

These two stories bring in immortals...can you share a little more about this world without giving anything away from your novels? Also, the poison of this bloodline to the group...Again, not asking for you to go beyond what you can share at this time.

I must comment on your creativity and imagination...I know that anybody can "conceive" of ideas...but how do you go about taking a concept from the idea into full bloom...and then use it, as you do so well, to take that to then branch off into more and more unique and new concepts. I'm still not clear how you chose to go so far into the future and decide to "drop" your stories into different countries and times. In your novels, do you have a more traditional beginning and ending, free-standing...or will they be truly a series that will stop and force readers to wait until the next book is out to know what happens?





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10 comments:

  1. Q: Anastasia exhibits the trait of believing what she has been told by her abductor--she believes Alexand  did not want her. I wonder whether he links their constant relocations or knows that they are constantly pursued, her mother hoping to free her.

    A: Hi Glenda, Anastasia is unaware that Alexand and Heyem have attempted to rescue her, as neither have been able to get close enough to her.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Q: I am intrigued by the "blood" of Alexand being poison to the immortals... I would think that both Ancilla and Anastasia carry the same blood even though Ichitumbu threatens his wife's trade for her sister. It is hard to understand her seeming(?) acceptance of her husband's constant murder of her children when they are born human

    A: Anastasia was abducted as a child. Although she remembers certain parts of living amongst humans, the Amanojuko think very differently and therefore she has been brought up in a society with no concept of death and therefore no appreciation of mortality. She believes the murdered children are being released to become reborn into an Amanojuko body.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Q: Bringing in immortality for characters is new...are they the more traditional gods like Zeus, etc., or are they more vampirish... At first I didn't understand the "paintings" that were not yet accepted...then I got it. Can you imagine repainting parts of the world? 

    A: The Amanojuko are human made, but I won’t go into too much detail as this is something which is covered in the first novel. There are Amanojuko who were born human and made immortal by a series of experiments and there were others (who believe themselves superior) who were born immortal. Alexand’s blood is something which is also a feature of the first and second books, but I can reveal that her resistance and subsequent ability to destroy Amanojuko is a genetic factor unique to left handed members of her direct family, descending from her grandfather’s line. (His short story hasn’t been written yet... His name is Xan and he also has alopecia. A side effect of this gift they have for destroying their enemy.) Ancille and Anastasia are mirror twins. Anastasia is left handed and Ancille is right handed. Both Alexand and Heyem are left handed. This plays a key factor in their resistance to the Amanojuko virus as their immune systems work slightly differently. Basically they can’t be turned, although Heyem hasn’t been through the same genetic switches as Alex, to enable her to become a biological weapon. I won’t say any more!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Enticingly irritating...that's what you do...LOL Your readers get so involved...and want to know more! I have had the privilege of reading, many of them before publishing, all of the Guardian series by Ruby Moon-Houldson,a scifi series that goes into the realms of upper, middle and lower realms, angels that have been "thrown out" and become vampires in the middle realm...and all kinds of good stuff that blows my mind each time Ruby dreams up the next novel...I can just imagine your books doing the same! Hope you are getting strong "vibes" from the publisher now reviewing your novel!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Q: These two stories bring in immortals...can you share a little more about this world without giving anything away from your novels? Also, the poison of this bloodline to the group...Again, not asking for you to go beyond what you can share at this time.

    A: Around the time Alexand met Katherine De Somme, (3984) there was a terrible outbreak of what they called ‘plague’ which was actually a government created virus (to control rebels). Ichitumbu Jalhavi was one of these unfortunate victims. He was given an antidote (I won’t say by whom) which turned his body into that of an Amanojuko. Katherine De Somme and Alexand were also infected by ‘plague’, but Katherine died, whereas Alexand was given an antidote, different from Ichitumbu’s, which cured her of plague, but switched on her body’s ability to fight the Amanojuko virus. I really can’t go into too much detail here, unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Q: I must comment on your creativity and imagination...I know that anybody can "conceive" of ideas...but how do you go about taking a concept from the idea into full bloom...and then use it, as you do so well, to take that to then branch off into more and more unique and new concepts. I'm still not clear how you chose to go so far into the future and decide to "drop" your stories into different countries and times. In your novels, do you have a more traditional beginning and ending, free-standing...or will they be truly a series that will stop and force readers to wait until the next book is out to know what happens?

    A: I see the life of each character as separate, but can then connect them to one another. I’ve been writing this mythology since I was seventeen and know the events very well. Sometimes I learn new things when I’m writing, but have a very good sense of what has happened in the world’s past. Each character stitches the fabric of the story together. As for dropping the stories into different countries and times, some micro stories may have started to connect together, whilst others seem isolated. The world is huge, and my characters have the luxury of particle physics to allow them access to different places very quickly. Some of my characters can’t age (not connected to the immortal Amanojuko, this is a result of future technology, a chemical which switches off the ageing process, called SIR2HX) and therefore I can allow greater periods of time to elapse. In the novels the timeframe is more traditional in respect of a beginning, middle and end, but admittedly, I’ve nearly finished the sixth book. There are a few cliff hangers amongst them!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Glenda, sorry, posted the answers before I saw your reply! Irritating, LOL, yes, you can't imagine how much I would like others to read my first novel. No news from the first publisher as yet, but I'm going to enquire in a few days to check if I fit into their family or not.... In a way these micro stories are the first course to a twelve course meal. Appetisers?

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  8. I feel that you won't be frustrated but rewarded by the novels. They maintain the style and feel of the micros, but don't tease in the same way. I hope you'll feel fuller than you do when reading the micros! The novels are more traditional in that the reader will be more satisfied.

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  9. Oh, I have no doubt that will be true for your novels...I'll probably have the last two days of the month for the total author interview and my review...using more of your beautiful art work as well...

    You know, many people fill up on Appetisers and never go any further...LOL...Just had to kid you a little...I gather you are back home since you are no longer Anonymous?

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  10. LOL, yes I've got my name back at last! Back from Ireland. Appetisers always leave you wanting more, in fact I'm hoping that once people have the opportunity to read the novels, the stories will become a lot less disconnected! In fact I'm incredibly excited that one day people can share what I know about the characters and stories, which can't be revealed in the micros...

    ReplyDelete