HEY THERE FRIENDS, BOY DO I HAVE AN EXCITING POST FOR YOU TODAY! I HAVE MY RELEASE DAY REVIEW OF HANS HIRSCHI'S 'WILLEM OF THE TAFEL, ALONG WITH SALES LINKS, AN EXCERPT, AUTHOR BIO, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, AS WELL AS A SURPRISE FOR HANS THAT EVERYONE WILL ENJOY ;), SO LET'S GET TO IT:
OH MY YES, THIS QUOTE IS PERFECT! HERE IS MY REVIEW:
Willem of the Tafel By: Hans Hirschi
reviewed by: Becky
The world we know is gone, destroyed by greed and ignorance. On a post-apocalyptic Earth, centuries into the future, few have survived the great war. Some have taken refuge deep inside a mountain. One of them, Willem, is exiled to the surface...
Struggling to survive, alone, Willem embarks on an epic journey, making a discovery that could alter the future of humanity, once again.
This is a beautiful story of hope, survival, and it also contains the lesson to be careful who you discount as being weak, for they just might end up being the strongest out of everyone.
Hans Hirschi give us not only a book here, but a glimpse into a future world where everything we know has been destroyed. We meet a tribe of a few hundred people who survive inside a mountain, and have for centuries, having gone underground when the world descended into chaos.
Willem is the lone surviving Ghost of the Tafel, which makes him a target of prejudice and ridicule for the paleness of his skin, though Willem survives by doing his job as a botanist and staying out of the way. When an accident happens and Willem is blamed he is exiled to the world above to face certain death.
I will not spoil this book for you, but what I can say is that Willem thrives and meets up with people who will change his life forever, mainly Hery, who is hearing impaired and could be the best thing to happen to Willem.
Will Willem risk his happiness and love to save the people that condemned him to certain death? This is a beautiful story friends, and you will fall in love with Willem in an instant just like I did! Thank you Hans for this brilliant work of art we will remember for years to come!
I HAD TO DO THE I LOVE YOU SIGN RATING HONOR OF HERY!! HERE ARE THE SALES LINKS AND GOODREADS LINK:
BEATEN TRACK BUY LINK (this link has multiple buy links)
AMAZON BUY LINK
AMAZON UK BUY LINK
GOODREADS LINK
* if the links haven't reverted from pre-order to buy links, they will very soon, as it is release day*
GRAB THIS BOOK FRIENDS, YOU WILL LOVE IT! HERE IS AN EXCERPT:
Lost in thought, he didn’t hear the footsteps approach until he saw the shadow in front of him. It was one of the younger members of Stephane’s group. He didn’t even know what his name was, but had noted that he hadn’t spoken all night, nor barely looked up during the discussions. He seemed to be as shy as Willem was. The boy didn’t say anything but stretched out his hand, offering a wooden plate filled with fruit, more chicken meat and something that looked like a patty, not unlike the bread baked in Tafel. Willem accepted the plate with a silent nod, accustomed to silence and not speaking.
The young man looked expectantly at Willem who understood that he had to try the food. He was curious about the patty on the plate and took a bite. It had an interesting flavor and texture—unlike the bread he was accustomed to from Tafel.
“We call that mofo gasy on Madagascar,” the voice of Stephane said behind him. “It’s a traditional bread we make from rice, but for our morning meal we make it without the sweetening. You like it?”
Willem nodded, his mouth full with food.
“This is Hery, by the way. He’s the youngest grandson of chief Adrianjaka. He doesn’t speak, never has, and isn’t in very good standing with his family. I took him under my wings. He’s a good cook.”
Willem looked at Hery and nodded again, and with the food swallowed, he said, “It’s nice to meet you, Hery. Are you ill or is not speaking a choice?”
Willem’s question was quite serious, as there were members in his own society who had taken a vow of silence. Given that there was very little talk underground as it was, taking that last step wasn’t hard, but it seemed odd that someone who could gaze at the sun would choose a vow of silence.
Hery pointed to his ears, opened his mouth and let out a sound that reminded Willem of an animal rather than a human being.
Stephane explained, “He was born this way. He’s completely deaf and that makes it impossible for him to know what to say, or how words would sound.”
Willem looked once again to Hery and offered him his hand in greeting, bowing to the young man, using a traditional Tafel greeting only used when meeting council members. He put the other arm in front of his chest, in what to him was a gesture of thanks.
Hery seemed to understand and smiled back at Willem, nodding. Hery was different from the other members of Stephane’s party, not just because of his hearing disability. While the other men had their hair cut short, Hery’s was shoulder-length and curly. Nor was it as black as the rest of the men’s; more a very dark brown. His eyes also set him apart from the others, as they were a dark green, not brown like his friends’, and his skin tone was slightly lighter than Stephane’s, although still considerably darker than Willem’s.
Having noticed Willem examining Hery, Stephane said, “Hery’s family has ties to ancient royal families on Madagascar, and they have a long history of mixing their bloodline with Europeans. Adrianjaka himself married a woman whose ancestors had fled to Kenya from New Zealand after the big earthquake. Hery is special. In most families of mixed heritage, the dark seems to dominate: hair, eyes, skin. But every now and then, there is someone like Hery, with green eyes. I even have friends with blue eyes, like yours, although those are very rare. Our friend Hery here had to pay a high price for his beauty though…”
AWWW HERY!! YOU WILL LOVE THESE MEN JUST LIKE I DO!! NOW HERE IS A BIT ABOUT HANS AND SOME SOCIAL LINKS!
BEATEN TRACK AUTHOR PAGE
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE
WEBSITE
YOU HAVE TO LOOK THIS AUTHOR UP, :) YOU WON'T BE SORRY, HERE IS AN INTERVIEW I DID WITH HANS :)
Bec- Thanks so much for joining us today Han's, I can't wait to hear your answers to these questions! :)
1. One of the common themes I get from the books I have read of yours is hope, is that intentional, or just something that happens?
I’m a hopeless optimist. Sue me! It’s just how I tick. It’s probably why my publisher calls me the “Queen of unconventional happy endings”. I don’t do HEA, I don’t like to tie bows with ribbons, but I like to send my characters off into a future with the tools they need to make it. As for the greater questions that my books are about, from coming out to grief, loss, child abuse, and even racism, I think there is hope for humanity. There is hope for us in terms of learning from past mistakes, hope that we learn. I think that we have a responsibility as authors to teach, since we have people’s attention for a couple of hours, and in this particular author’s case, he IS an educator. I just can’t help it!
Bec- I am a fellow optimist, so I know what you mean. I love the unconventional happy ending, your version at least ;)! As for the teaching part, I think that is why I love your books so much, I KNOW I will walk away with at least one piece of knowledge I didn't have before!
2. What is the driving force that keeps you going as an author?
I think the same force that drives all of us: we can’t help it. I think that once you take the lid off your writing, it just keeps going, one way or another, and new stories come out from my subconscious. It’s pretty amazing to see actually, to watch and read my new stories come to life on the screen. To be the first reader is often fun, tear jerking at times, occasionally unnerving, particularly when the characters surprise me with doing things they’re not supposed to, like dying in the middle of a book. Trust me, when that happens to your main character, it’s scary! Luckily, I managed to get out of that particular bind!
Bec- Oh my! I can see where you would need to let your characters get their stories out, I have heard many authors say that they weren't gonna start a particular story but the character started speaking to them and that was that!
3. Is there a theme that you stay away from in your books? One type of book you won't write?
3. Is there a theme that you stay away from in your books? One type of book you won't write?
You’re asking the author who wrote about a gay pedophile? No, I don’t think there’s a theme I’d stay away from. not after what I’ve already written. However, there are many genres that don’t really interest me like ghost stories, paranormal, zombies, fantasy, that sort of thing. Then again, I never thought I’d write Science-Fiction either. Look at me now. And they even say it’s suitable for YA. Who knew? I did not set out to write Willem as a young adult story, but it’s cool that it seems to work. Who knows, I might be discovered by a whole new audience. That would be great.
Bec- Touche! ;) I would love it if more people read your stories, and yes Willem works as YA and that is terrific!
4. What is the best compliment you could get about your work?
4. What is the best compliment you could get about your work?
I’ve gotten quite a few but the one that I’ll never forget is when a reader quit her job to find something else. She found one of my blog posts so empowering that she took the plunge. When you affect people’s lives in such a positive notion, that’s great. So far, I’ve been really lucky, and I’ve had a positive impact on people and very few trolls have crossed my path. I hope it stays that way.
Bec- That must be wonderful to know you have had that kind of impact on someones life, that would stick with me too!
5. I know everyone has favorites of your books, what was your most personal work to write?
My first one, Family Ties, because there are many elements from my own life in it. It’s as autobiographical as it gets. But each of the novels has drawn on various parts of “me”, even though they aren’t littered with scenes from my own life. Jonathan’s Hope deals e.g. with the question of age difference in a relationship (I’m 12 years older than my husband), The Opera House deals with the loss of a child (my son was a newborn back then, and the fear of losing him to SIDS was omnipresent), The Fallen Angels of Karnataka was inspired by a pedophile case in our circle of friends and Willem of the Tafel is the result of my outrage with racism and our ignorance and lethargy before the great threats we all face.
Bec- You can tell each and every work is personal to you, that is what makes them so easy to identify with and fresh I think, job very, very well done!
6. What is the next project you are going to tackle as an author?
There are two projects ongoing simultaneously, one is a compilation of shorts (I still need to write one or two) and the other is a novel about a kid in a wheel chair. I thought it would be a short at first, but it’s been growing and there are some ideas about how this could develop. I just need the time to get it done… And the coming weeks are going to be filled with work around the release of Willem, so who knows how much writing I’ll be able to do. But - drum roll - I hope to have a second book out come GRL this fall…
6. What is the next project you are going to tackle as an author?
There are two projects ongoing simultaneously, one is a compilation of shorts (I still need to write one or two) and the other is a novel about a kid in a wheel chair. I thought it would be a short at first, but it’s been growing and there are some ideas about how this could develop. I just need the time to get it done… And the coming weeks are going to be filled with work around the release of Willem, so who knows how much writing I’ll be able to do. But - drum roll - I hope to have a second book out come GRL this fall…
Bec- That is great! I am looking forward to it! Thanks so much for joining me today Hans, I enjoyed the chat, come back anytime! :)
AND NOW FOR HANS'S SURPRISE ( DON'T WORRY IT IS A VERY GOOD SURPRISE ;P) I GOT MY GOOD FRIEND DEBBIE McGOWAN (SAID PUBLISHER THAT GETS MENTIONED IN THE INTERVIEW) TO SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT HANS, SO HERE GOES:
I’ve finally
traced my ‘relationship’ with Hans M Hirschi back to its
inaugural moment: 30th
January, 2014.
A three-tweet
interaction and already I was asking favors. Well…he got a credit
out of it. ;) But that was just the start. In February, 2014, Hans
came to the UK for the London Author Fair and DEMANDED I attend. I
obliged, of course. The train journey was…sodden. I was reading
Jonathan’s Hope
whilst sitting opposite a rather stoic southerner who glowered at me
every time I sniffed, sobbed, wiped my eyes, blew my nose or
otherwise fell to pieces at the so-called happy ending. Was it then
that I dubbed Hirschi ‘The Queen of Unconventional Happy Endings’?
That’s the thing with
Hans’ novels. There is no predicting how it will end, or how many
characters he’ll take out in the process. He tells me [“Time to
talk on Skype?” “When?” “Now!”] that he writes in a stream
of consciousness, with no pre-planning, just letting the story flow
forth, and I’m all for that. It’s also how I write, though my
body count is waaaaay lower.
But anyway, I digress. We
met up at the London Author Fair, attended interesting seminars,
drank coffee…had shockingly blah food at Jamie Oliver’s American
diner (and terrorized the poor, exhausted George: our server for most
of the meal). It was a fun and educational couple of days, and I have
to say I was impressed with Hans’ networking/social butterfly
prowess. We (he) talked to everyone, including the author marketing
guy from Goodreads and a literary agent who looked and sounded a lot
like David Mitchell.
To cut a long and winding
tale short, the opinion I formed of Hans during those two days hasn’t
really changed much in the sixteen months since: he’s intelligent,
funny, speaks in tongues, um, I mean twelve languages (and maybe
tongues too). He’s got great hair, he’s sarcastic and finds it
amusing to tar me with the ‘British’ brush and then
systematically rip the UK to shreds, for his entertainment and my
irritation. In fact, he takes great delight in tormenting me at any
given opportunity.
Most importantly of all
(and the reason he gets away with all of the above), he’s a
talented and unique storyteller who is prepared to take risks, and
for whom I have a great deal of love and respect.
May 28th,
2015: Beaten Track Publishing presents Willem
of the Tafel, a novel by Hans M
Hirschi.
Thank you, Hans, for
trusting me with your words.
WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT! THAT WAS AWESOME, THANK YOU DEB! I WILL SAY, THOUGH I HAVE ONLY KNOWN HIM FOR A SHORT TIME, HANS IS ONE OF THE MOST GENUINE PEOPLE YOU WILL MEET, IF YOU DON'T WANT THE STRAIGHT ANSWER DO NOT ASK HIM THE QUESTION! THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS I ADMIRE ABOUT HIM! THANKS FOR STOPPING BY FOR THE RELEASE DAY SPOTLIGHT OF WILLEM OF THE TAFEL! I HOPE YOU HAD AS MUCH FUN AS I DID! -BEC
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