Peter Kazmaier

My book, The Halcyon Dislocation was reviewed by Lloyd Rang in the July issue of Faith Today.

One of the nice things he said had to do with the plausibility of the science behind the plot. That was particularly gratifying since it was one of the things I worked hard to achieve. Here is what Rang said:

Reprinted with the gracious permission of FAITH TODAY

Notable Quote:

For his first novel, Kazmaier does well at quickly getting the plot in motion and describing the new world. The science makes good reading, too – perhaps no surprise, since Kazmaier is a working and teaching scientist. He makes dimension and time travel appear plausible and comprehensible. (No mean feat – the writers of the TV show Lost could’ve used his help.)

Lloyd Rang also gave some helpful advice about making the secondary characters more three dimensional which I will take to heart. If you want to peruse the review in its entirety, keep reading.

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Robert J. Sawyer is arguably Canada’s best known Science Fiction author and has achieved significant international  recognition as a Hugo Award winner and through the recent debut of his novel FlashForward on television. Given his stature in the field of Science Fiction, his blog entitled “Are the Days of the Full-Time Novelist Numbered?” is of particular interest to all of us who follow Science Fiction and Fantasy literature. Sawyer begins his blog by alluding to an invited lecture he gave  to the Canadian Book Summit:

I started by recounting how, a few months ago, I’d had fellow science-fiction writers Robert Charles Wilson and James Alan Gardner over for pizza; at that dinner, I’d told Bob and Jim that I feared there was only a decade left in which anyone could make a comfortable living writing science-fiction novels, and urged them to plan their careers and finances accordingly.

If someone with Robert Sawyer’s achievements  makes this observation, then one ought to listen. Are the days of the full-time novelist numbered? What does this mean for novelists who are just starting out (like me)?

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Why do so many people read Science Fiction? Why do so many more watch movies with Science Fiction themes. This was discussed on a TV Special called Listen Up TV on Global Television yesterday. You can also see it online .

One of the key conclusions was that Science Fiction encourages a sense of wonder and even of hope.

At the end of the special, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Lorna Dueck about The Halcyon Dislocation and my motivation for writing it.

Thanks for reading,

~Peter

Links to other Science Fiction Blogs cited in this episode:

• Gabriel McGee – SF Gospel Blog
• John C. Wright – John C. Wright’s  Live Journal
• Robert Sawyer – Robert Sawyer’s SF Blog

THE HALCYON DISLOCATION was reviewed by "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind " and given 4 out of 5 stars.

…The universe that the author creates is one that I can only best compare to Tolkien’s epic tales (and I’m not saying that because I know him and he’s likely to read this review, it’s completely true). It’s often a tall task for any author to portray a simple world around it’s main character, but in Tolkien fashion, Peter Kazmaier creates a vivid universe filled with multiple cultures, philosophies, character-types, and story-lines, all handled with care representative of someone who truly understands and loves the characters and universe that they have created.

I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars, and highly recommend it. It can be found for purchase online through the following web link: THE HALCYON DISLOCATION

THE HALCYON DISLOCATION has just been reviewed by Canadian Christianity :

February 2009

Peter Kazmaier: The Halcyon Dislocation (Wolfsburg Imprints, 2009) Peter Kazmaier is a man of many parts: a research scientist in industry and an adjunct professor of chemistry at Queen’s University, he also has patents on more than 100 inventions. Now he has written a science fiction novel which deals with power struggles at a university community which has been transported to a new world.

I remember reading a Science Fiction short story in which space explorers landed on the ideal planet where nature was in perfect harmony and the plants and animals co-existed without competition. The planet presented a park-like environment and the only animals were herds of cow-like herbivores. Periodically one of these animals, in the bloom of health, would wander up to the space ship stop its own heart and offer itself up for food. After their initial suspicions were allayed, the space travelers found these bovine steaks were the best they had ever eaten. However, after several months, the first crew member disappeared. The others, as they searched for him, found a large cocoon-like object and out of it emerged a replica of the cow-like creature. The planet’s inhabitants won by losing.

Perhaps this is how Pacifism is supposed to work. A Pacifist may say in answer to my last article “sure our gates are open wide; you can conqueror us, take over our country, and even kill many of us, but just like the bovine aliens, we will take you over from within.” (continue reading…)