OUTCASTS CSFF BLOG TOUG DAY THREE

 OUTCASTS

Safe Lands Series - Book Two by Jill Williamson

Day Three of the Outcasts Blog Tour

THREE BROTHERS - THREE PATHS

(click image for Amazon link or click link below) Outcasts - available from:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Outcasts-Safe-Lands-Jill-Williamson/dp/0310724244/

CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/outcasts-safe-lands-jill-williamson/9780310724247/pd/724247?product_redirect=1&Ntt=724247&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Author's Web site: http://www.jillwilliamson.com/

I received a review copy of Outcasts by Jill Williamson from Blink, A division of Zondervon, in conjunction with the January CSFF Blog Tour 

Safelands Webpage: http://thesafelands.com/


Levi, Mason, and Omar are three brothers, but are nothing alike. Levi wants to lead their village survivors, and doesn't understand why Mason should care about the Safe Landers. Mason wants to escape the city, but feels he can make a difference withe the woman he cares about, Caddah. Omar is the one who sold out his village to gain a spot, but after a lapse in judgement Omar contracts the sickness. He has a change of heart about his life after sighting an owl while walking with Red, a live for the moment Safe Lander, and hurries home to sketch the owl on a man's body. The sketch reminds Omar of his favorite superhero, The Owl. So Omar decides to become a vigilante in the fight against those commanding the City.

Each brother has similar goals, to help others in their group, or those they care about, but each takes a different path to achieve that goal. Each brother has a part to play in reaching the greater good, and though they come from different paths, they are part if the same plan. The Lord cares about everyone, and their choices. Often we make bad choices, as Omar and Mia, and the touch of sin causes affects us whether we realize it on not. In Outcasts, Jill Williamson tells the story of a town and it's inhabitants. But, she also tells the story of loss and redemption, and of saving grace. The people of Glenrock lost much, but through their sacrifices, The Lord uses them to bring the Safe Landers back from their place of dark choices and sin.

The story of Mason and his brothers continues later this year in Book 3 of The Safe Lands Series.

Sample chapter of Outcasts: http://www.scribd.com/doc/183292500/Outcasts

Series Youtube, nice graphics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezom5l_9vnQ&feature=youtu.be



*Participants’ links:

Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Pauline Creeden April Erwin Victor Gentile Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Jason Joyner Carol Keen Jennette Mbewe Amber McCallister Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jacque Stengl Jojo Sutis Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson

CSFF OUTCAST BLOG TOUR - DAY TWO

 OUTCASTS

Safe Lands Series - Book Two by Jill Williamson

Day Two of the Outcasts Blog Tour

Sick of Body and Spirit
(click image for Amazon link or click link below) Outcasts - available from:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Outcasts-Safe-Lands-Jill-Williamson/dp/0310724244/

CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/outcasts-safe-lands-jill-williamson/9780310724247/pd/724247?product_redirect=1&Ntt=724247&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Author's Web site: http://www.jillwilliamson.com/

I received a review copy of Outcasts by Jill Williamson from Blink, A division of Zondervon, in conjunction with the January CSFF Blog Tour

Safelands Webpage: http://thesafelands.com/

Mason, the scholar,  was looked down by his older brother the hunter and leader. Now, Mason works in the Surrogacy Center as a medical tech and spends most of his free time researching a cure for the disease. Mason still has feelings for Ciddah, his supervisor, but she is infected so he can't become more involved with her. Omar and Mia are infected due to wanting their freedom earlier. These infections of former Glenrock residents add to Mason's pressure to find a cure. However, Mason finds evidence of Ciddah bugging his apartment with recording devices. He feels betrayed by the very person he cares for, and doubly so as he is trying to help cure her.


Today's title comes the the way Outcasts shows how a sickness of the spirit is manifested by an external sickness of the body. In the Safe Lands, this external sickness is shown by dry, peeling skin. Safe Land inhabitants try to cover this appearance by painting their skin and adding up dateable tattoos. Like the illness, sin has a way of seeping out, even when we try to cover up and keep it hidden. Omar and Mia found, to their detriment, that you can't play around with evil, it always changes you in some way. Since the Safe Lands story is loosely based on that of Daniel and company getting taken out of Israel and into to Babylonian captivity, Mason seems the most like Daniel. He is favored by the leaders, he follows the teaching of The Lord though those around him would lead him astray, and he cares for the others in his care. The Safe Lands are a future version of ancient Babylon. In the Safe Lands, poor choices led to ever more extreme attempts to replace The Lord with hollow replacements like drug-dispensing vapor sticks, meaningless one-night stands, and a callous focus on self gratification first.


Jill Williamson has done a good job portraying what might be if society follows it's current course of focusing on the wrong things. She tackles some tough subjects like dug and alcohol abuse, sexual addition, and even contempt for the unborn. Teens, and others, reading Outcasts may find themselves
dwelling on the points Jill Williamson raises as I did, and remembering Mark 8:36. The Safe Landers gained much of what the world offered, yet lost their souls in the process.

Sample chapter of Outcasts: http://www.scribd.com/doc/183292500/Outcasts

Series Youtube, nice graphics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezom5l_9vnQ&feature=youtu.be

 

*Participants’ links:

Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Pauline Creeden April Erwin Victor Gentile Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Jason Joyner Carol Keen Jennette Mbewe Amber McCallister Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jacque Stengl Jojo Sutis Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson

OUTCASTS CSFF BLOG TOUR - DAY ONE

 OUTCASTS

Safe Lands Series - Book Two by Jill Williamson

Day One of the Outcasts Blog Tour

A New Life - A New Death 

(click image for Amazon link or click link below) Outcasts - available from:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Outcasts-Safe-Lands-Jill-Williamson/dp/0310724244/

CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/outcasts-safe-lands-jill-williamson/9780310724247/pd/724247?product_redirect=1&Ntt=724247&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Author's Web site: http://www.jillwilliamson.com/

I received a review copy of Outcasts by Jill Williamson from Blink, A division of Zondervon, in conjunction with the January CSFF Blog Tour

I enjoyed Mrs. Williamson's first book in the Safe Lands Series, Captives, and was thankful for the opportunity to review her next book in the series, Outcasts.  In case you haven't read Captives, it's available on sale for Kindle , Nook , and iTunes.
Safelands Webpage: http://thesafelands.com/





Outcasts opens with Kendall Collin's post-pregnancy life. In the Safelands, children belong to the Safelands, and are taken from their mother soon after birth. After celebrity life during her pregnancy, Kendall is coping with the loss of her son who she only sees in the Safeland videos. She is trying to get her life back to normal, and has taken her old job as a courier.





She hears someone moaning for help at the station, and comes upon her friend Chord who lies dying in a pool of his own blood. Chord dies before her eyes, but not before giving her four secret messages to deliver. When another courier appears and starts questioning her, Kendall wonders what is in the messages. Should she turn them over to the authorities when they appear? She should give them to Omar, the courier who shows up after Chord dies, and grabs Kendall's wrist to ask about Chord? Should she follow Chord's last wish, and illegally deliver the non-tracked messages?


All this happens in the prologue, and the pace just seems to pick up from there. As I read Kendall's denials about Chord, it reminded me of Peter denying Christ. I'm not sure it was intended, but Kendall was friends with Chord and wants to avoid any legal complications with the authorities much as Peter.

Sample chapter of Outcasts: http://www.scribd.com/doc/183292500/Outcasts

Series Youtube, nice graphics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezom5l_9vnQ&feature=youtu.be



*Participants’ links:

Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Pauline Creeden April Erwin Victor Gentile Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Jason Joyner Carol Keen Jennette Mbewe Amber McCallister Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jacque Stengl Jojo Sutis Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson