Book Reviews and More: A Very Jurassic Christmas - Corinna Turner

Saturday, 12 December 2020

A Very Jurassic Christmas - Corinna Turner - unSPARKed Book 0.2

A Very Jurassic Christmas
unSPARKed Book 0.2
Corinna Turner
Unseen Books
ISBN 9781910806975

eISBN 9781910806982

ASIN B08P81RL1Q

I really loved reading these books. I tend to read them myself and then reread them with my son. And have gone back and reread some of them on my own. A couple of times we (my son and I) have even gone back and reread previous volumes when a new one came out. The unSPARKed stories are FANtastic! I have read nearly all the published works of Turner. And the variety is stunning. In some ways she is a modern-day Madeleine L’Engle, with stories in many different genres, and to have mastered them all. Her stories are masterfully written. And having read all but 2 that are in print I can recommend them all.

unSPARKed is a series set in a not too distant future. Dinosaurs once again roam the earth. Just because a scientist could do something, did not mean they should have done it. Most people live SPARKed, in cities with walls and electrified fences. There are two groups of people who live unSPARKed, farmers who have electric fences around their farms and live in community with their close neighbours. And Hunters who live most of the time out on the road or off road in HabVI’s Habitat Vehicles. There are two story arcs in this book. The main characters in the first are story are Zech and his nephew Josh, a near starved mother allosaur and her three chicks who end up being named: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The characters in the second are Darryl, her brother Darryl and her father. The characters that crosses over is Father Benedict.

Josh convinces his uncle that they should take the mother and chicks to a zoo down south, because the mother had been doing such a good job looking after them. Even if it means giving up their Christmas vacation and his only chance to skate this year. They get a great contract for them but need to drive straight through to Christmas to get them there. And they encounter problem after problem on the journey. Running out of gas, tranqs for the mother, a killer storm. They have an encounter with a friendly rural priest. But to find out if his assistance is enough you will need to read the story.

Darryl and her family go looking for Father Benedict a rural traveling priest. It is Christmas eve when the story opens and he is well past the time he should have arrived. They head out in a story to find him, and if need be rescue him.

The chapters are the 4 days of:

1. Christmas Eve

2. Christmas Day

3. Saint Stephen’s Day

4. Feast of the Holy Family

This story is well written. It is riveting on both fronts. And in this one Father Benedict reminds me of Canon Tallis in L’Engle’s works. He was a real life family friend, and appears in both her Kairos, Chronos and non-fiction works. If you have already read any of the unSPARKED stories this one is a great addition to the overall story arc. If you have not delved into them yet It is a great place to start. Note that the first chapter in this was published as a short story in Gifts Visible & Invisible 8 Christmas Stories for Teens, previously.

This is a great story in a wonderful series. And like all of Turner’s books I have read both highly entertaining and enjoyable. Pick it up and give it a try, I am certain it will not disappoint.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2020 Catholic Reading Plan!