Today I wanted to share information on a new book that looks to be quite unique and memorable – the adult social sci-fi story: RARITY FROM THE HOLLOW by Robert Eggleton.

Mr. Eggleton reached out to me with information on his new novel. Here’s an overview:

Lacy Dawn’s father relives the Gulf War, her mother’s teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. She has one advantage — an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It’s up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn’t mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first.

Rarity from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy and satire. A Children’s Story. For Adults.

“The most enjoyable science fiction novel I have read in years.”

—Temple Emmet Williams, Author, former editor for Reader’s Digest

“Quirky, profane, disturbing… In the space between a few lines we go from hardscrabble realism to pure sci-fi/fantasy. It’s quite a trip.”

* Evelyn Somers, The Missouri Review

. “…a hillbilly version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…what I would have thought impossible; taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse…tongue-in-cheek humor without trivializing them…profound…a funny book that most sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy.” — Awesome Indies (Gold Medal)

“…sneaks up you and, before you know it, you are either laughing like crazy or crying in despair, but the one thing you won’t be is unmoved…a brilliant writer.” –Readers’ Favorite (Gold Medal)

“Rarity from the Hollow is an original and interesting story of a backwoods girl who saves the Universe in her fashion. Not for the prudish.” —Piers Anthony, New York Times bestselling author

“…Good satire is hard to find and science fiction satire is even harder to find.” — The Baryon Review

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The book is garnering praise, including two medals. Mr. Eggleton himself wrote me a piece that I’d like to share with you as well:

Literary Speculations

Historically, speculative fiction has fueled social activism, debate, and the adoption of evolving or devolving social policy depending on one’s values. In 380 B.C., Plato envisioned a utopian society in The Republic and that story represented the beginning of a long string of speculations: ecology, economics, politics, religion, technology, feminism…. In the 1970s, Ursula K. LeGuinn, was credited with coining the term, “social science fiction” to distinguish the subgenre. The impact of speculative fiction on my personal world view began in the 1960s when Ellison, Aldiss, Herbert and others wrote about the stuff that many American teens at the time were reflecting upon – social and political issues at a tumultuous time. Protests against increasing militarism during the Vietnam War were fueled by the writings of Ellison and Vonnegut. Speculative fiction then was more than escapism, as evidenced by Ursula Le Guinn winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards in 1970. More recently, consider the acceptance of and increase in GLBTQ literature in all genres, including young adult novels, such as Hero by Perry Moore and Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. Alternative sexual identity themes can be traced back to ancient mythology, Homer’s Iliad. Did such literature inadvertently lead to the legal punishment for European sodomy during the 1700s and 1800s – DEATH? Did recent increase in LBGT titles being released, and the popularity of television shows such as Modern Family, influence the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex marriage was a Constitutional right? And, is the current backlash against gay rights widely covered by today’s news sources, especially of statutes enacted in Mississippi and North Carolina, a similar phenomenon to that recorded about Europe centuries earlier?

Of course, I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I do believe that speculations sparked by artists in every venue have at least a subliminal impact on each of us, an impact that transcends our own prejudices, traditions and belief systems. Rarity from the Hollow, my debut novel, is speculative fiction written in colloquial voice that satirically and comically addresses the need to improve systems for the prevention of child maltreatment. Half of author proceeds are donated to a nonprofit child welfare agency. http://www.childhswv.org/ The final edition was released to Amazon on December 5, 2016.

Rarity circulated as an Advance Review Copy (ARC) for quite a while. The ARC received considerable praise for its social commentary, sixty-eight five and four star reviews posted on Amazon, was awarded Gold Medals by two major book review organizations and was named as one of the best books of 2015 by a Bulgarian book review organization. http://codices.info/2015/12/top-5-for-2015-ventsi/

However, it wasn’t until Donald Trump became a household name that the political allegory in the story was fully acknowledged. On 1-6-17, the first book review of the final edition was published, five stars. The closing lines were: “…Brilliant satires such as this are genius works of literature in the same class as Orwell’s Animal Farm. I can picture American Lit professors sometime in the distant future placing this masterpiece on their reading list.” https://marcha2014.wordpress.com/2017/01/06/5-stars-for-rarity-from-the-hollowby-robert-eggleton/

I pray that my literary speculations do not trigger a backlash like the ones that I mentioned above. It seems impossible that any force would want to intentionally harm child victims even more. But, then, the world awaits its determination as to the impact of the Trump Presidency on children’s rights worldwide. In addition to a prediction beginning in 2006 that Donald Trump would rise to political power, and without an ounce of political advocacy one way or the other, the story comically and satirically addresses many controversial issues that Americans are fighting about today, including illegal immigration, the refuge crisis, funding of community-based health and welfare services, sexual harassment…. Future lovers of historical fiction will read about and judge how we treated our kids today.

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While I have not read the book, I am intrigued, and I really like how half of the proceeds go to charity. Here’s some info on Mr. Eggleton:

About the author:

Robert Eggleton has served as a children’s advocate in an impoverished state for over forty years. He is best known for his investigative reports about children’s programs, most of which were published by the West Virginia Supreme Court where he worked from 1982 through 1997, and which also included publication of models of serving disadvantaged and homeless children in the community instead of in large institutions, research into foster care drift involving children bouncing from one home to the next — never finding a permanent loving family, and statistical reports on the occurrence and correlates of child abuse and delinquency.

Today, he is a retired children’s psychotherapist from the mental health center in Charleston, West Virginia, where he specialized in helping victims cope with and overcome physical and sexual abuse, and other mental health concerns. Rarity from the Hollow is his debut novel. Its release followed publication of three short Lacy Dawn Adventures in magazines: Wingspan Quarterly, Beyond Centauri, and Atomjack Science Fiction. The Advance Review Copy of Rarity from the Hollow received considerable praise through Robert learning about the world of books as a novice. The final edition was released to Amazon on December 5, 2016. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. http://www.childhswv.org/ Robert worked for this agency in the early ‘80s and stands by its good works. He continues to write fiction with new adventures based on a protagonist that is a composite character of children that he met when delivering group psychotherapy services. The overall theme of his stories remains victimization to empowerment.

Purchase links:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Rarity-from-the-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton/9781907133954?ref=grid-view http://www.amazon.com/Rarity-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton-ebook/dp/B017REIA44 http://www.doghornpublishing.com/wordpress/books/rarity-from-the-hollow https://weightlessbooks.com/genre/fiction/novel/rarity-from-the-hollow/

Author Contacts:

http://www.lacydawnadventures.com https://www.facebook.com/Lacy-Dawn-Adventures-573354432693864/ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13603677-rarity-from-the-hollow https://twitter.com/roberteggleton1 https://plus.google.com/b/108662084126982201049/108662084126982201049/posts