The new year rings in with a Flury: Journey of a Snowman by Tony Bertauski ~ Review

Tony Bertauski writes some very original stories and Flury: Journey of a Snowman is just one of them.

I have read the first two books in this series and enjoyed them tremendously.

You can find my review links below.

Flury: Journey of a Snowman
(Claus #3)
by Tony Bertauski
YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday

SYNOPSIS

Life hasn’t been kind to Oliver Toye.

As if juvenile diabetes isn’t enough, he’s forced to live with his tyrannical grandmother in a snow-bound house. He spends his days doing chores and the nights listening to the forest rumble.

But when he discovers the first leather-bound journal, the family secrets begin to surface. The mystery of his great-grandfather’s voyage to the North Pole is revealed. That’s when the snowman appears.

Magical and mysterious, the snowman will save Oliver more than once. But when the time comes for Oliver to discover the truth, will he have the courage? When Flury needs him, will he have the strength? When believing isn’t enough, will he save the snowman from melting away?

Because sometimes even magic needs a little help.

AmazonBarnes & Noble

MY REVIEW of Flury: Journey of a Snowman by Tony Bertauski

I have read end reviewed Tony Bertauski’s original stories of Claus: Legend of the Fat Man and Jack: The Tale of Frost, so I am eager to begin on Flury: Journey of a Snowman. Tony’s ability to spin a tale and create new worlds is amazing. Every time I open one of his books, I am ready to be taken to a place I have never been before and meet characters that worm their way into my heart, at least most of them, and leaving me hoping I will see them again.

Malcolm Toye became separated from the group that traveled to the North Pole. He knew he wasn’t going to make it out alive, as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Oliver and his mom had just arrived at their new home in Colorado. Actually, it was his grandmother’s house, the Toye Residence.

Oliver is used to spending a lot of time alone. He felt even more isolated since moving here, until he made friends with Molly. Molly is a wonderful girl that fits Oliver perfectly. He has juvenile diabetes and has to keep a close eye on his sugar level.

Grandmother is more than prim and proper. Is she purposely cruel? She has rules and one of them is to be in the house before the sun goes down. Why? After waking to sounds crashing through the forest and trees falling, he didn’t question it.

In his explorations, he finds a trunk filled with curious objects. It belonged to his grandfather, Malcolm Toye. What really intrigued him was the journals and the blue orb that seems warm in his hand. Oliver becomes enraptured by Malcolm’s journals. He carries the orb he discovered everywhere with him.

His cousins act like they were trained by terrorists. They could use some lessons from Emily Post. Henry is a little monster. They wouldn’t include him in their games, but after they were gone, he looked for their trail and followed it. Will his inquisitiveness be the end of him or save the day?

Now the adventure really begins at 20% into the book.

This series of books is joyous fun, full of vivid images of the characters, be they human or….Do you believe in Santa, snowmen and elves?

The world building is so imaginative I can feel the light touch of snowflakes on my face as I tip my head back to look up at the sky. Afterwards, I can bask in the warm glow of the fire.

It brought back memories of standing under snow covered trees and shaking their branches until I was covered in the fluffy white stuff. What are some of your best memories of snow and the winter season.

Oliver won me over in the opening pages. His sense of adventure and curiosity led me to follow him through the pages, doing the chores, wandering the property, exploring Malcom’s treasures. And I was very curious about why he shouldn’t be out at night.

Tony can spin a tale that has me believing, taking me back to that time when all things are possible.

Best one yet! I love “Frosty’s” story and him too.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos5 Stars – Would Buy It For Others (lol)

I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

During the day, I’m a horticulturist. While I’ve spent much of my career designing landscapes or diagnosing dying plants, I’ve always been a storyteller. My writing career began with magazine columns, landscape design textbooks, and a gardening column at the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). However, I’ve always fancied fiction.

My grandpa never graduated high school. He retired from a steel mill in the mid-70s. He was uneducated, but he was a voracious reader. I remember going through his bookshelves of paperback sci-fi novels, smelling musty old paper, pulling Piers Anthony and Isaac Asimov off shelf and promising to bring them back. I was fascinated by robots that could think and act like people. What happened when they died?

I’m a cynical reader. I demand the writer sweep me into his/her story and carry me to the end. I’d rather sail a boat than climb a mountain. That’s the sort of stuff I want to write, not the assigned reading we got in school. I want to create stories that kept you up late.

Having a story unfold inside your head is an experience different than reading. You connect with characters in a deeper, more meaningful way. You feel them, empathize with them, cheer for them and even mourn. The challenge is to get the reader to experience the same thing, even if it’s only a fraction of what the writer feels. Not so easy.

In 2008, I won the South Carolina Fiction Open with Four Letter Words, a short story inspired by my grandfather and Alzheimer’s Disease. My first step as a novelist began when I developed a story to encourage my young son to read. This story became The Socket Greeny Saga. Socket tapped into my lifetime fascination with consciousness and identity, but this character does it from a young adult’s struggle with his place in the world.

After Socket, I thought I was done with fiction. But then the ideas kept coming, and I kept writing. Most of my work investigates the human condition and the meaning of life, but not in ordinary fashion. About half of my work is Young Adult (Socket Greeny, Claus, Foreverland) because it speaks to that age of indecision and the struggle with identity. But I like to venture into adult fiction (Halfskin, Drayton) so I can cuss. Either way, I like to be entertaining.

And I’m a big fan of plot twists.

Website;Goodreads; Facebook

I have read the first two books in the unique and original Claus series and would like to share them with you.

MY REVIEW

MY REVIEW

Click on the covers to get your copy of a Tony Bertauski novel today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see all my Reviews, go HERE.
To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for visiting fundinmental!

Flury: Journey of a Snowman by Tony Bertauski Giveaway

I was excited to find that Tony Bertauski has finished the third book in the Claus series.
I have enjoyed these fantasy tales of the holiday characters we all know so well.
I hope you will take the time to read and get to know them too.
Be sure and enter the giveaway at the end of the post.
Check out these awesome covers!

Through Prism Book Tours.

We’re celebrating the RELEASE of
Flury: Journey of a Snowman
By Tony Bertauski


An Introduction to Flury

Frosty had a magic hat.

There was no explanation, just a special hat that turned a pile of snow into a walking, talking best friend. Flury is more than that. And doesn’t smoke.

Born on the North Pole, Flury was created by an ancient race of elven that evolved during the Ice Age and continues to live in the polar ice today. Technologically advanced, they sustain themselves with innovation and wisdom. But even the most peaceful settlements encounter danger, such as polar bears. That’s why they invented abominables.

What we call snowmen.

The life of an abominable doesn’t magically spring from a top hat. The heart of an abominable is a metal orb—an intricately carved sphere that generates an electromagnetic field and builds a body of snow around it. Abominables are intimidating and selfless. They run, they fly. Above all else, they protect.

In the late 1800s, Malcolm Toye was part of an arctic voyage that ended in disaster. The survivors of the expedition never saw him again. Malcolm had wandered into the snowy landscape to be saved by a patrolling abominable he would come to know as Flury.

His rescue, however, became more of a curse than a blessing when the elven refused to allow him safe passage back home, insisting they remain secret from humanity. Malcolm was destined to live out his days among the elven, pining for home.

Longing for his wife.

Malcolm escaped by stealing the metal orb of Flury. Quietly, he arrived back in the United States to settle down and resume a normal life. But there was nothing normal about it. As the years went by, his estate becomes shrouded in mystery and rumors.

A hundred years will go by before the mystery is solved.

Oliver Toye, a teenage type 1 diabetic, will discover the magic hidden on his grandmother’s property. He’ll read about Malcolm Toye’s journey when he finds a set of leather bound journals. He’ll see the snowman trapped on the property, and the other things that haunt the forest. Most importantly, he’ll uncover Malcolm Toye’s master plan to harm others. And why he wants to.

Flury will come to Oliver’s rescue more than once.


Flury: Journey of a Snowman
(Claus #3)
by Tony Bertauski
YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday

Life hasn’t been kind to Oliver Toye.

As if juvenile diabetes isn’t enough, he’s forced to live with his tyrannical grandmother in a snow-bound house. He spends his days doing chores and the nights listening to the forest rumble.

But when he discovers the first leather-bound journal, the family secrets begin to surface. The mystery of his great-grandfather’s voyage to the North Pole is revealed. That’s when the snowman appears.

Magical and mysterious, the snowman will save Oliver more than once. But when the time comes for Oliver to discover the truth, will he have the courage? When Flury needs him, will he have the strength? When believing isn’t enough, will he save the snowman from melting away?

Because sometimes even magic needs a little help.

AmazonBarnes & Noble

About Tony Bertauski

During the day, I’m a horticulturist. While I’ve spent much of my career designing landscapes or diagnosing dying plants, I’ve always been a storyteller. My writing career began with magazine columns, landscape design textbooks, and a gardening column at the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). However, I’ve always fancied fiction.

My grandpa never graduated high school. He retired from a steel mill in the mid-70s. He was uneducated, but he was a voracious reader. I remember going through his bookshelves of paperback sci-fi novels, smelling musty old paper, pulling Piers Anthony and Isaac Asimov off shelf and promising to bring them back. I was fascinated by robots that could think and act like people. What happened when they died?

I’m a cynical reader. I demand the writer sweep me into his/her story and carry me to the end. I’d rather sail a boat than climb a mountain. That’s the sort of stuff I want to write, not the assigned reading we got in school. I want to create stories that kept you up late.

Having a story unfold inside your head is an experience different than reading. You connect with characters in a deeper, more meaningful way. You feel them, empathize with them, cheer for them and even mourn. The challenge is to get the reader to experience the same thing, even if it’s only a fraction of what the writer feels. Not so easy.

In 2008, I won the South Carolina Fiction Open with Four Letter Words, a short story inspired by my grandfather and Alzheimer’s Disease. My first step as a novelist began when I developed a story to encourage my young son to read. This story became The Socket Greeny Saga. Socket tapped into my lifetime fascination with consciousness and identity, but this character does it from a young adult’s struggle with his place in the world.

After Socket, I thought I was done with fiction. But then the ideas kept coming, and I kept writing. Most of my work investigates the human condition and the meaning of life, but not in ordinary fashion. About half of my work is Young Adult (Socket Greeny, Claus, Foreverland) because it speaks to that age of indecision and the struggle with identity. But I like to venture into adult fiction (Halfskin, Drayton) so I can cuss. Either way, I like to be entertaining.

And I’m a big fan of plot twists.

Website; – Goodreads; – Facebook

I have read the first two books in the unique and original Claus series and would like to share them with you.

MY REVIEW

MY REVIEW

Click on the covers to get your copy of a Tony Bertauski novel today.

taiwan flag smiley animated gif Pictures, Images and PhotosBLITZ GIVEAWAY

– $25 Amazon gift card and ebook of Flury: Journey of a Snowman (open internationally)
Ends November 22nd

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see all my Reviews, go HERE.
To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for visiting fundinmental!

Bugs Bunny Sleigh Taz Tasmanian Devil Daffy Duck Slyvester Tweety Pie Roadrunner Merry Christmas Emoticon Emoticons Animated Animation Animations Gif Pictures, Images and Photos

Elves in South Carolina? Review of Jack: The Tale of Frost by Tony Bertauski

If you like the odd, the adventurous, the sci-fi  world of magical beings, then this book is for you.

I read the first book, Claus: Legend of the Fat Man (see my review HERE) and was blown away. I laughed and played with the elves and reindeer.

Jack: The Tale of Frost is darker and goes off in a much different direction.

Sooooo, grab your hot toddy and blankie, stoke up the fire and put up your feet, and let’s enter the magical world that is Jack.

 photo goodreads-badge-add-38px11_zps1ae6e47f.jpg

Sura takes a job at Frost Plantation.

She will meet Mr. Frost, who’s love of Christmas is obsessive, after all he invented Christmas, didn’t he?

Sura will find the love of her life and the home she has longed for.

She will also meet Jack, who is the opposite of Mr. Frost. Jack hates Christmas.

~~~~~~~

A Christmas story so unusual, it makes the Grinch seem like child’s play.

The world building and character descriptions will have your mind working overtime trying to envision them. Tony Bertauski’s imagination knows no bounds as he takes me on a magical, sci-fi adventure after the downfall of the North Pole.

There is a love story, but to me that was just the icing on the cake. Jack is the cake.

Elves in South Carolina? Impossible? If you saw a round blue guy, what would you think?

I love a “guy” that I love to hate and Jack fits that bill to a T.

I wanted to laugh and cry with Jack, when I could get over the fact that he was a total asswipe. I felt bad for him and then I wanted to slap him up side the head. Jack didn’t have visions of sugar plums, but there were reindeer and a jolly fat man dancing in his head. The sun was so hot, but his memories were of white, fluffy snow and ice cold temperatures. He was not a pleasant “person” to be around. All that being said, I have to say that I liked Jack. The things he went through as he came “alive” made me root for him, encouraging him to hang in there, things will get better, won’t they?

I was confused for a while, trying to figure out what in the hell happened after all the badness at the North Pole, but as it came together I was even more surprised. This book is darker than Claus, but every bit as entertaining to read.

I love a surprise at the end, and Tony left me screaming for more!

Bugs Bunny Sleigh Taz Tasmanian Devil Daffy Duck Slyvester Tweety Pie Roadrunner Merry Christmas Emoticon Emoticons Animated Animation Animations Gif Pictures, Images and Photos

4 STARS – Would Highly Recommend To Others

When Tony says, “I’d rather sail a boat than climb a mountain”, I smiled, nodded my head and said to myself, “I’m with you Tony.”

I received this book from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

~~~~~~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tony BertauskiMy grandpa never graduated high school. He retired from a steel mill in the mid-70s. He was uneducated, but he was a voracious reader. I remember going through his bookshelves of paperback sci-fi novels, smelling musty old paper, pulling Piers Anthony and Isaac Asimov off shelf and promising to bring them back. I was fascinated by robots that could think and act like people. What happened when they died?

I’ve written textbooks on landscape design, but that was straightforward, informational writing; the kind of stuff that helps most people get to sleep. I’ve also been writing a gardening column with a humorous slant. That takes a little more finesse, but still informational for the most part.

I’m a cynical reader. I demand the writer sweep me into his/her story and carry me to the end. I’d rather sail a boat than climb a mountain. That’s the sort of stuff I wanted to write, not the assigned reading we used to get in high school. I wanted to create stories that kept you up late.

Fiction, GOOD fiction, is hard to write. Having a story unfold inside your head is an experience different than reading. You connect with characters in a deeper, more meaningful way. You feel them, empathize with them, cheer for them and even mourn. The challenge is to get the reader to experience the same thing, even if it’s only a fraction of what the writer feels. Not so easy.

Goodreads  Website  Facebook

To get your copy of Tony Bertauski’s Christmas saga, click on the cover below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see all my Reviews, go HERE.
To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

animated smilies photo: animated animated.gif  Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WINNERS!!!!!

.
  My favorite time of any giveaway is announcing the winners. So without further ado, the winners of Claus: Legend of the Fat Man are:
.

Alana

Denise Z

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments. I hope you will continue to follow fundinmental.

.

To see my full review go HERE

FOR ALL MY GIVEAWAYS, CLICK  HERE

Tony had me rolling on the floor, laughing out loud, when I wasn’t ticked off at Jack.

Claus: Legend of the Fat Man by Tony BertauskiClaus: Legend of the Fat Man

At the North Pole, Nicholas couldn’t believe the Inuits had left them, taking all their gear and food. He left Jessica and Jon in the tent and went to investigate their disappearance. He had tied a rope around himself so he could find his way back. When it wrapped around his feet and tripped him, he realized it had been cut. He turned to walk back and fell through the ice.

Back at the tent, Jessica reeled in the empty line. When she stuck her head out of the tent to see if she could catch a glimpse of Nicholas, she was grabbed and thrown in the air. When she awoke, she found Jon with her in a warm room surrounded by ice. Where did the light come from?

She called out, “Hello” , and people-like creatures appeared. One of them, Merry, introduced herself and Nog. She said they needed to leave, now. Nog packed up the room and put it in a bag he had pulled from his pocket. What? How did he do that? How did the whole room end up in his bag.

Jon thought it was magic. Nog told him it was science. He said they were elven and had been around for more than 40,000 years. There was no time to explain right now. They had to relocate. The Fracture, war, had separated the elves, and the colony has to move every two weeks.

How would they travel? Why, reindeer and sleigh. Was there a reindeer with a red nose? What do you think?

santa & sled, sleigh, reindeer Pictures, Images and Photos

Jack was the only elven with no sense of humor. When he was really upset, two words always calmed him, Silent Night, and he would repeat them over and over.

Pawn approached Jack to tell him they had found an injured warmblood. He had been caught in their trap, but the other two got away with the rebels help. He had been put in Claus‘ lab, because he had been injured and Claus was the only one who could heal him. Pawn told Jack the warmblood’s name was Santa.

Jack and Claus were twin brothers. Jack wanted to kill all the warmbloods and return the world to the Ice Age. He had been waiting to capture a warmblood and now he had one. He had held Claus prisoner, even though he was treated well, because he would need his help to turn the warmblood into a weapon.

Merry had a special relationship with the reindeer. She could hear them. When everyone found out, they all began ignoring her. No one would  play games with her and they called her names. What a great twist on Rudolph’s story.

As she was calling out their names for Jon,  he shouted out  the last one, Blitzen. How did he know? He didn’t have an answer for her.

Claus tried to explain to Nicholas, that he could be their salvation or their destruction. He could bring distinction to the human race.

Of course Frosty the Snowman is there, but what part he plays, you will have to read to find out.

Bugs Bunny Sleigh Taz Tasmanian Devil Daffy Duck Slyvester Tweety Pie Roadrunner Merry Christmas Emoticon Emoticons Animated Animation Animations Gif Pictures, Images and Photos

5 STARS – Would Buy It For Them (lol)

There are two different covers for this book and I loved them both, so I used one at the beginning and another at the end of this post. The title speaks for itself. LOL

An amazing and awe-inspiring novel of how Santa came to be. I was stunned at Tony Bertauski’s descriptions of the characters, critters and their environment. It was nothing less than amazing. His descriptions of the environment, technology and science fiction involved in the writing of this novel had me……I can’t even think of the words to describe how impressed I was. As you can see, I am now repeating myself, so read the book and you will see what I mean.

His creativity with mixing so many genres – the environment, technology, science fiction, magic, fantasy, Christmas, etc. – was superb.

The book has an unexpected ending, but no peeking.

I can see this as a television Christmas special. I think it would be a classic.

I have read one other book of his, The Annihilation of Foreverland and was equally impressed with that novel. This is an author you want to place on your must read list.

I got the book for free, and whether Tony expected a review or not, here it is. LOL. I loved everything about this book and would have reviewed it no matter what.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tony BertauskiMy grandpa never graduated high school. He retired from a steel mill in the mid-70s. He was uneducated, but he was a voracious reader. I remember going through his bookshelves of paperback sci-fi novels, smelling musty old paper, pulling Piers Anthony and Isaac Asimov off shelf and promising to bring them back. I was fascinated by robots that could think and act like people. What happened when they died?

I’ve written textbooks on landscape design, but that was straightforward, informational writing; the kind of stuff that helps most people get to sleep. I’ve also been writing a gardening column with a humorous slant. That takes a little more finesse, but still informational for the most part.

I’m a cynical reader. I demand the writer sweep me into his/her story and carry me to the end. I’d rather sail a boat than climb a mountain. That’s the sort of stuff I wanted to write, not the assigned reading we used to get in high school. I wanted to create stories that kept you up late.

Fiction, GOOD fiction, is hard to write. Having a story unfold inside your head is an experience different than reading. You connect with characters in a deeper, more meaningful way. You feel them, empathize with them, cheer for them and even mourn. The challenge is to get the reader to experience the same thing, even if it’s only a fraction of what the writer feels. Not so easy.

Goodreads  Website  Facebook

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taiwan flag smiley animated gif Pictures, Images and Photos  Giveaway – Tony Bertauski is offering up 2 ebooks for the giveaway. It is International and easy to enter, as always. Just answer the question:

Everyone roots for the good guy, the protagonist, the guy/girl that saves the word and never tells a lie. But there’s something to be said for a great villain. I’ve always found the most compelling bad guy is the really nasty one that has some redeeming quality — tiny as it may be — that makes me not hate him/her nearly as much as I should. Everything I write features an antagonist that, by the end, leaves the reader scratching his/her head.

Given this criteria, who is a REALLY good antagonist? And why?

 Ends November 20, 2012.

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.

WINNERS!!!!! are:  Alana and Denise Z

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments. I hope you will continue to follow fundinmental.

To get your copy of a Tony Bertauski novel, click on the cover below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see all my Reviews, go HERE.
To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

animated smilies photo: animated animated.gif  Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~