Earthlings: Tour Review and Exclusive Interview with Ray Star
"Peridot Watkins has always lived a very sheltered life. Raised on a remote island by an over-protective mother, she has never spoken to anyone outside of her family.
Until one day, a strange boy Euan knocks on her window, mumbling about escape from captivity on the mainland and Peri quickly learns that the world isn’t safe for people like them. It isn’t safe for Elementals, those who have the power to control earth, air, fire, water and spirit.
On her quest to learn the truth, Peri escapes the island to discover that the world is worse than she could have possibly imagined. Humans are slaves, animals can talk and the world is run by unruly chickens.
Peri is thrown into a world she barely understands; caught in an ongoing battle for freedom and struggling to command her magick whilst trying to find Euan, who is entangled with people who may not be as straightforward as they seem. Peri’s abilities may be what is needed to save humanity but at what cost?"
Have you ever come across a book that was completely unexpected and hit you way harder than you were prepared for? This is exactly what happened to me with Earthlings.
In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that if I saw this book on a shelf in a shop, I'd probably skip past it, however, I was contacted about reviewing this book and sent the above description and I was immediately intrigued. I'm guilty of frequently cover-buying and this example has made me stand back a little and read synopses before deciding on a book.
I really don't know where to start with reviewing this book - I am slightly speechless!
I guess the general plot is a pretty good starting point. Earthlings is a coming-of-age novel set in a world turned upside-down by the irresponsible nature of mankind. Peridot is our female protagonist who has been separated from the mainland chaos, living on a small island with only four (human) inhabitants. This brings me to one of my favourite aspects of Earthlings - the relationships between characters. The book really emphasises the idea of found family and beautifully portrays the disparities between truthful, trusting relationships and relationships controlled by fear and mistrust. Ray Star spends a nice chunk of the book really focusing on Peridot and her relationship with others and the world around her.
During the first third (or so) of the novel, we get to watch Peridot growing up. Sometimes I feel that authors who do this kind of coming-of-age change the character too much in the child to teen transition. I mean we all know that teenagers tend to be portrayed as grumpy but I really enjoyed that Peridot truly felt like an older version of the character we first met. She has her mood swings but her core personality was well kept and I found it easy to follow her growth.
In and amongst Peridot's journey through to adolescence, the book is filled with quirky references to the world as we know it (from modern film to bacon sandwiches)! In addition, issues such as global warming, animal cruelty and mass farming are addressed in a way that feels properly relevant to the story, rather than in a forceful fashion. Some scenes are a little graphic in terms of what they represent, however, Ray has done a fantastic job of ensuring the message is received without being off-putting. This makes for a thought-provoking read whilst the reader is still submerged in a dystopian-type magical world. I also love that the ethical underpinnings of the book aren't just empty words: Ray is planting a tree for each copy sold and copies are printed on recycled paper!!
I've probably made the book seem very serious and depressing from my review so far but this was so not to case. The general tone of the book is, on the whole, lighthearted and actually quite funny at times. The character's internal dialogues are relatable and humorous, and dialogues between characters are done beautifully, feeling authentic and allowing a true feel for the relationship between the characters.
The ending of the book had be on the edge of my seat with my heart in my throat! I'd grown so connected to the characters that I so desperately want things to work out for them and I am certain that the wait for book two is going to be filled with anticipation!
I'm going to end this review with the first line from the book because I think you'll have to read it after this snippet:
"Its official. I hate chickens."
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
As mentioned in my review, there are some pretty important themes running throughout Earthlings, so I paired up with author Ray Star to find out a little bit more about the message of Earthling and to bring you a sneak peek of what's coming next!
Q. Earthlings is unlike any book I've read before, how did the idea come to you?
Ray: It’s funny you should say this – I panic-published Earthlings last year for precisely this reason, I was convinced another author might have a similar concept and beat me to it! Thankfully this wasn’t the case, and a traditional publisher reached out wanting to publish the story, so I took the book down and we’re re-launching with a few minor amendments and a new cover on the 12th August this year.
The concept for Earthlings came to me when I was at lunch with my mum one day, we were seated next to a fish tank, watching the fish swim round whilst we waited for our food to arrive, and it occurred to me that these fish would continue to swim in tiny circles until the day that death found them, and this overwhelmed me with sadness. Then, my dinner turned up a moment later, creamed cod on a bed of mash and greens, and I realised the hypocrisy in my emotions.
I looked round the room at my fellow patrons enjoying their starters, mains and deserts and the cogs began turning, I turned to Mum quite out of the blue and told her I was going to write a book about animals that could talk, and the next day, that’s precisely what I started to do.
Q. How important do you think it is for more authors to spread awareness about global issues through works of fiction?
Ray: In the world we live in now, I believe this to be more important than ever. A quote that I share often; ‘The biggest threat to our planet, is the belief that someone else will save it’. (Robert Swan)
Q. You have promised to plant a tree for every copy of Earthlings sold, how many trees have been planted so far and what is your goal?
Ray: I’ll be planting a tree for every book sold and my forest can be viewed here or via my website.
So far, I’ve planted 1101 trees to cover the copies that sold when I briefly self-published last year along with the promotional copies sent out for the re-launch. I would absolutely love to plant 1 million trees, but I’d need to sell a minimum of 998,899 copies of Earthlings to make this a reality … a rather arduous task but I’m up for the challenge!
Q. I can't decide who my favorite character from Earthlings is; there are so many relatable traits amongst the characters? Which character do you most relate to and were any of the characters inspired by people in your life?
Ray: Even though Earthlings is, at its core, a magick-based novel, I wanted the characters to seem as realistic as possible. Each character has one core trait, Peridot’s is her empathy, Euan’s is his strength, Joe’s is his loyalty, Ann’s is her practicality … the character I relate most to, is Peridot’s mother, for reasons I can’t explain without divulging too much of the story yet to come, but I will spill a little secret;
Vallaeartha’s name was created long before the Earthlings tale, when I was going through a transition in my own life and finding my inner witch, using the Wiccan method of creating my craft name.
Valla (born of), Eartha (the earth). Vallaeartha (pronounced, Val-eartha) is my alias as an eclectic witch.
For the animals, they all hold a very special place in my heart but none more so than my sun and my moon, Phoenix and Freyja. If you head over to my Instagram (@raystarbooks), you can see them in the flesh, they are two very real, very loving and loopy, waggy tailed family members.
Q. The messages behind Earthlings are of great importance but if you could only emphasise the importance of one of the themes, which would it be and why?
Ray: This is such a tough question and one that’s impossible to answer for me. It would be deciding which of our fellow Earthlings deserves to be saved the most – and I could never decide that. We each deserve to live our lives as free beings to wander this planet, our home, as we please.
I think Phoenix says it best in chapter 12:
“From the tiny ant to the human or elephant, we are all Earthlings.”
Q. How long will we have to wait for book 2? Can you give us any little sneak peeks?
Ray: Book two of the Earthlings trilogy, (Dominion) is in the editing process and I’m hoping will be released this festive season around the winter solstice, with the final installment (Land of Hope and Glory) hopefully to follow with a Samhain launch next year. Another insider secret for your followers:
Each of the books is named after a documentary I hold an emotional connection to.
Earthlings, Dominion and a Land of Hope and Glory are also documentaries, available to watch online for free and are truly life changing watches I implore you to watch, if you can bear to.
The final installment will be a prequel of its own naming; The Changing, which will be Vallaeartha’s story of how the Earthlings world came to be and what prompted ‘the changing’ within the story to occur. This novel will include some chapters taken from my own life with experiences that I’d like to share with the world first-hand as Vallaeartha.
Q. The spiritual narrative in Earthlings is beautiful - can you tell us more about the magical and spiritual system of the book?
Ray: This was the one aspect of Earthlings that I debated longest about. The message behind the story is prominent but I wanted it to be a sub-plot, running alongside another narrative so as not to alienate readers or become labelled as preachy. Including magick enabled me to do this but at the same time, I wanted to include real practises that I use myself in my own craft.
Only, until recently, I hate to admit, I have been a closet-witch.
When asked, I fell into the comfort zone of saying I was Pagan which to an extent is accurate and has been widely accepted, even though, in my heart, I now understand that in truth, I am an eclectic witch.
I don’t stick to any one belief, my practises are taken from a mix of Paganism, Wicca and new-age spiritualist practises, incorporated into my own belief which I don’t (yet) have a name for. Put simply. I believe magick is real and it exists for everyone. And to use it, holds more power than I can put into words. True magick – the kind with a kicking K.
I’m happy to declare I am now free from the broom closet and writing Earthlings has enabled this to happen. It was a ritual of its own for me. Truly life changing and I can now say loud and clear:
I am a witch and proud to be so.
Within the Earthlings story I have tried to share with readers every day practical elements of magick that everyone can, should they wish, incorporate into their own lives and enjoy. From the practise of walking barefoot and grounding, to crystal healing, herbal lore, lunar living and following the wheel of the year. All these practises are real rituals that have transformed my life in more ways than I thought possible, I will be sharing many of my own rituals via the blog on my website in the hope it may help others too.
Q. Anything else to add?
Ray: As you can probably gather from reading this, I have a genuine love for our fellow Earthlings and one species that is often taken for granted, sadly, is the trees.
It wasn’t until recently that I learned a very upsetting trade truth. The majority of the books we know and love, are printed on virgin paper.
Fully grown, mature trees, most likely having lived longer on this planet than each of us, are felled for the literature we hold dear to our hearts. Are the books we love more important than the world that provided them?
If the answer to that question, is a resounding “NO!” then hopefully, you may feel as I do, that it is our responsibility as writers and readers to do something about it.
I’m lucky enough to have a publisher that shares my concerns and my books are printed on recycled paper with every distributor, except for one: Amazon. Currently, Amazon KDP do not offer an eco-friendly printing option, this was what prompted me to plant a tree per book sale but it’s not enough, I want to do more.
So, I recently launched the #READGREEN campaign, petitioning Amazon to make the switch to sustainable printing on recycled paper.
Imagine the difference it would make to our planet, if the millions of trees due to be felled for our love of books, were saved by a simple signature instead.
It is our duty, for every book we’ve ever bought, borrowed, written or read, to stop taking from mother nature and start giving back to her. Please help me on my mission to save trees by visiting the #ReadGreen campaign here and sign & share with your followers using the hashtag #READGREEN.
With the Amazon rainforest now emitting more carbon than it can absorb and the arduous mission of limiting the global warming temperate to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we need our trees now more than ever. Together – we possess the ability to save millions of them. Let’s make books part of the solution, not the problem, because if we don’t try to save our world – who will?
From a fellow Earthling
Blessed Be
Ray Star
@RayStarBooks
www.raystarbooks.com
