Hi, I’m August Howitz

Hi, I’m August Howitz. Nice to meet you. You probably know me as Faith, but see, I took this personality test with characters from a series of books I like to read and the person I got was August Howitz from Grace Pennington’s Firmament series. She writes mostly Science Fiction (or as one blogger called it, Space Opera and please don’t ask me what that is, I probably don’t know anymore than you do), but she also wrote an awesome Western Mystery novel. But I’m getting sidetracked.

As I was saying, when I took Grace’s personality test, I got the character I thought I would: August Howitz. Thus the reason I’m going with that name for right now. I also happen to know that he is my friend Aubrey‘s favorite character, so that must mean something right?. 😉

 Here’s the description of August:

You aren’t a bold or outgoing person, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have inner strength. Though you tend to be timid, self-conscious, and insecure, when put to the test you show more courage than people give you credit for. You are sensitive and crave approval from those you love, but you tend to keep your feelings to yourself.

Does that fit me? Who did you get? I want to know who you people are, so make sure you take the test and then come back here and let me know who you are.

The Countdown

Grace is doing a countdown to her book publication and I’m smack dab in the middle. So make sure you check out the first two blogs and then the last two over the next couple of days.

8th – Joel A. Parisi
19th – Aubrey Hansen
20th – Faith Blum
21th – Elisabeth G. Foley
22th – Jonathan Garner

The Book

On their way back to Earth from the newly discovered world of Kainus Ge, the Surveyor rescues the personnel of a malfunctioning science station. Young medical assistant Andi quickly befriends the newcomers, particularly the charming captain, but things get complicated when the scientists offer the impossible–a way to improve the barren planet and the lives of all its inhabitants.

There’s only one problem: their solution requires the Surveyor to enter the one area of the galaxy which is off-limits to travel.

As the Captain struggles with his decisions, Andi and her father become suspicious of the “accidents” that keep happening on the ship. Could it be coincidence, or is someone trying to sabotage their mission? Can they uncover the truth in time to stop the Captain from wrecking his career and losing his ship forever?

The Book Review

Five stars
Recommended Ages: 10 and up

Characters: 1/1
As with Radialloy and In His Image, Grace does a wonderful job with her characters. There have been very few times when I felt that her characters were two dimensional or unrealistic. In Machiavellian, she doesn’t disappoint. Fans of Andi Lloyd will be happy to know that Andi is the same growing young woman she was in the first two books. And the best part, in my opinion, is that she goes through even more struggles to show that she isn’t perfect. I really appreciate Grace making her characters have good and bad qualities.

Dialogue: 1/1
Again, like the characters, the dialogue in Grace’s book has always been well done. It is engaging, realistic, humorous, and fits each character.

Plot/storyline: 1/1
I can’t wait to finally be able to talk about this book freely (Note: I beta-read the book in June). The plot is amazingly complex, yet simple once you read the end. Each of Grace’s books have had a mystery element to them and this one is no different.

Over-all writing quality: 1/1
I have honestly been jealous of Grace’s writing abilities ever since I read her first book, especially “Never”. Her writing is always very well done and I wish I had even a tenth of her talent.

Un-put-down-ability: 1/1
I read this book in something like two days and it only took me that long because I read it on my computer and had to eat, do chores, and other things. I had to find out what was going on and what they were all going to decide.

Overall: 5/5
I would recommend this book to anybody over the age of 10. Some kids under 10 might be okay with it, but there are elements that they would not understand and would probably need some explanations. If you haven’t read the first two, you might not understand some of the references to the other books, but those are few and far between and shouldn’t take away from your enjoyment of the book.

If you haven’t bought this book, go to the Amazon page (on October 23rd) and buy it. I can almost guarantee you will like it.

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