Guest post - Lory Kaufman

I’ve been continually flattered of late by people telling me they believe my History Camp concept is quite original and asking me where the idea came from. The first History Camp novel, entitled The Lens and the Looker is about an almost Utopian 24th century world where kids are taught not to repeat the mistakes of the past by being forced to live in recreations of cities from Earth’s distant past. There they must experience the hard lives of our ancestors, so they will appreciate their modern civilization. Some unappreciative “hardcases” then find themselves sent back in time to experience the real thing.

Where did this come from? What I brought to the table was my experience in the Green political movement. But there’s also all the visionary books which molded my thinking since I was young. I’ve written a list below and include, not just my SF/Fantasy faves, but some of my general fiction heroes. I believe it’s really important to be expansive in what you read to keep growing and healthy. Here’s a very incomplete list of 20 old and new titles and authors whose work has influenced me greatly. Their order does not reflect rank. I’ve added a little blurb about each.

Young Adult Dystopian

1. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (If it was written now, it would include gene manipulation, but this was written away before that. It set the pattern for so much that came after it.)

2. Unwind, Scott Westerfield (Not for a young, young adult. Mr. Westerfield creeped me out several times in this book. Well done, sir.)

3. The Giver, Lois Lowry (A good example of a well-written “G” rated book. Not an easy feat.)

4. The Road, Cormac McCarthy (Again, not for a young, young adult. The movie was good, the book was friggin’ fantastic. A great example of story arc and keeping the tension tight.)

5. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (the biggest, current phenom, and well deserved)

6. Lord of the Flies, William Golding (The book that made me know I wanted to be a writer.)

7. The Percy Jackson Series, Rick Riordan (Middle grade but I love it and you can tell.)

8. Spin, Robert Charles Wilson (Listed as adult but with young adult characters, this shows a dystopia by nature’s hand)

Science Fiction

9. Kindred, Octavia Butler (I love time-travel with no explanation. The best use of throwing people from different times together that I’ve read)

10. Hominoid Series by Robert J. Sawyer (A great alternative universe trilogy where the humans are the bad guys for a while.)

11. Ender’s Game (and the series) by Orson Scott Card (It’s got little kids as heroes, and it works.)

12. Handmaiden’s Tale, Margret Atwood (A great mix of dystopia, but written with a general fiction tone.)

13. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein (The guy’s crazy and he really pushed the bounds of morality, but I couldn’t get enough of him when I was a “hard case” teen.)

14. Ringworld, Larry Niven (Mr. Niven thinks big and out of the box. In a circle, really. I loved his kooky characters.)

15. The House on the Strand, Daphne du Maurier (Time travel with drugs and written by a matronly lady. What were you doing behind closed doors, Daphne?)

General Fiction

16. 1000 Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini (I love this guy’s written voice.)

17. The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway (One of my top five.)

18. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway (My favorite book of all time. He’s the only writer I’m putting in twice. This book informs all my high adventure sequences.)

19. City of Thieves, David Benioff (One of my top five in the last 3 years. I hate this guy. He’s young, talented, written books and movies and . . . Is married to Amanda Peet. Life is good to young Mr. Benioff.)

20. The Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman (One of my top five in the last 3 years. I love the way he writes his characters in this book. You really know what they’re thinking. This is one of the most perfectly written books of a living writer that I’ve read.)

I could have made a list of well over one hundred titles, but this will give you an idea of what I like and inform you of what you can hopefully expect if you read the first book in my new series, The Lens and the Looker. You can find out more by going to: www.history-camp.com . You can also “like” the History Camp Facebook page at:http://www.facebook.com/historycamptrilogy

The lens and the looker Review by Jenny Needham

The lens and the looker by Lory S. Kaufman

Available now

What's it about?

It’s the 24^th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s), have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History camps, full sized recreations of cities from earth’s distant pasts. Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations. History camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die. But not everything goes to plan.

In this first of a trilogy, we meet three spoiled teens in the year 2347. Hansum, almost 17, is good looking and athletic. Shamira, 15, is sassy, independent and an artistic genius. Lincoln, 14, is the smart-aleck. But you don’t have to scratch too far beneath the surface to find his insecurities.

These three “hard cases” refuse the valuable lessons History camp teach. But when they are kidnapped and taken back in time to 1347 Verona, Italy, they only have two choices: adapt to the harsh medieval ways or die. The dangers are many, their enemies are powerful, and safety is a long way away. It’s hardly the ideal environment to fall in love – but for Hansum, that’s exactly what happens. In an attempt to survive, the trio risks introducing technology from the future. It could save them – or it could change history.

Jenny's review:

4/5

This is not a regular genre I read, although I do tend to dip in and out of it, I must say this book took me a few chapters to get into but once there I really got into it. I loved the characters and all their differences. This book is split into three parts (although they do follow on from one another), the first part gives the reader a really good back story for Hansum and the way he lives in his modern life, and the reasons he ends up having to go to History camp. Once there he meets the other two main characters and the fun begins, with the three of them hitting it off quite well. This part also covers the time they spend in history camp and what they get up to, and also explains some of the back story behind the camps and behind the year they have been sent back too. The next part of the book concentrates on everything that happens after they are kidnapped from History camp and actually sent back to Verona for real, this section gives you loads of information on the area and what it was like living in that time period, as well as the struggles that Hansum and co face by being left in Verona to fend for themselves. How will they cope with it all and make a living, as well as survive in a completely different time. The third section of the book deals with a whole new twist to the story when something happens that will change all of their lives forever. They all come to terms with this in very different ways. And with Hansum also falling for his master’s daughter everything is at stake for the young trio, there is the underlying story of Hansum, and how he can win his love, and live in Verona all at the same time.

I found there were some really funny times as well as some very sad times in this book, with some great one liners from Lincoln.

In all I really enjoyed reading this book and will be picking the next in this trilogy up in the next couple of months, as I really want to know what is going to happen to the trio now, and what adventures they are going to go on.

Check out

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What I'm reading?

The Lens and the looker by Lory S. Kaufman

Blurb



There's hope for the future, but what about the past?

It’s the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s) have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full sized recreations of cities from Earth’s distant pasts. Here teens live the ...moreThere's hope for the future, but what about the past?

It’s the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s) have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full sized recreations of cities from Earth’s distant pasts. Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations. History Camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die. But not everything goes to plan.

In this first of a trilogy, we meet three spoiled teens in the year 2347. Hansum almost 17, is good looking and athletic. Shamira, 15, is sassy, independent and an artistic genius. Lincoln, 14, is the smart-aleck. But you don’t have to scratch too far beneath the surface to find his insecurities.

These three “hard cases” refuse the valuable lessons History Camps teach. But when they are kidnapped and taken back in time to 1347 Verona, Italy, they only have two choices; adapt to the harsh medieval ways or die. The dangers are many, their enemies are powerful, and safety is a long way away. It’s hardly the ideal environment to fall in love – but that’s exactly what happens. In an attempt to survive, the trio risks introducing technology from the future. It could save them – or it could change history.

My thoughts
I am still working on Snuff but my review for this is due up on the 1st so I'm starting it now also. The idea of History camps to deter people from making past mistakes is a really interesting one so I'm definitely curious to see how that goes, but in this the kids actually get sent into the past where technology is far less advanced to them so I think that will be a lot of fun to read.

What are you reading?