Book Spotlight – Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K. Host

On her last day of high school, Cassandra Devlin walked out of exams and into a forest. Surrounded by the wrong sort of trees, and animals never featured in any nature documentary, Cass is only sure of one thing: alone, she will be lucky to survive. The sprawl of abandoned blockish buildings Cass discovers offers her only more puzzles. Where are the people? What is the intoxicating mist which drifts off the buildings in the moonlight? And why does she feel like she’s being watched?

Increasingly unnerved, Cass is overjoyed at the arrival of the formidable Setari. Whisked to a world as technologically advanced as the first was primitive, where nanotech computers are grown inside people’s skulls, and few have any interest in venturing outside the enormous whitestone cities, Cass finds herself processed as a ‘stray’, a refugee displaced by the gates torn between worlds. Struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, she must adapt to virtual classrooms, friends who can teleport, and the ingrained attitude that strays are backward and slow. Can Cass ever find her way home? And after the people of her new world discover her unexpected value, will they be willing to let her leave?

My Review

I picked up Stray, first in the Touchstone trilogy, for two reasons. I love me some “lost in another world” action, and the main character was Australian! The books are Cassandra’s (the main character) diary entries as she struggles to survive and experiences the unique worlds Andrea has created. From her adventures trying to feed and shelter herself while completely alone on a primitive world, to  being rescued by psychic space ninjas (the Setari) and the major culture shock that comes with something like that, Cassandra’s story is riveting, often tense, and regularly funny and clever. While the story did slow down a little by the third book, I found myself so invested in every one of the (many!) characters and the threat against the worlds the story takes place in. So much so that I’m also now enjoying the Gratuitous Epilogue, a fun extra which basically just follows up at the end with the story of “who gets with who”. Touchstone has fantastic action scenes as Cassandra and the Setari do battle with demon-like creatures, but I love that Cassandra herself stays true to her character of being pretty rubbish at the whole combat thing, making herself useful in other ways. A clever, unique romance adds an extra element to the story. Overall, Touchtine was an immersive, super fun read and very hard to put down.

An Interview with Andrea

I love the main character Cass and her pop-culture references throughout the books, especially to MMO’s and other geekier topics. Would you consider yourself to be a bit of a geek, too?

I don’t think I’ve ever identified myself with a particular group, but I’m definitely someone who has been a reader of SFF all her life, a gamer, and a roleplayer. One of the things I wanted with Cass was a protagonist I would recognise as “someone I know” – someone who had read similar books, who would know who GLADoS is, who had watched movies which made her part of “my culture” – the culture of the SF fan. A genre-savvy protagonist who had spent quality time on TV Tropes. And then I dropped her into a world where no-one got her jokes!

The relationship you create between Cass and one of the handsome psychic space ninja’s is beautiful. Did you have any particular qualities in mind when crafting their romance?

In their way they’re an “opposites attract” romance. Cass would never have pictured herself with someone so self-disciplined, and to him she’s incredibly problematic on many levels. She’s part of his job.
She’s from such a different culture that she impacts on his psychic abilities. They were definitely not a love-at-first-sight couple, and kept slowly increasing in importance to each other, while trying not to give in to their feelings. My favourite moment in their romance is probably the scene during the snowball fight, where he for a moment just can’t stay completely professional.

You’ve got a couple of other series out currently (ten books in total?). Of all your books, or series, which is your favourite (in other words, which would you recommend reading next)?

Tough question! The rest of my current releases (two of which are compilations) are high fantasy, so rather different from Touchstone’s space adventure. “Medair” is the most epic story, a kind of post-colonial examination of an invasion. “Champion of the Rose” is the most romance-oriented, but a rather tortured, difficult and angst-ridden romance. “Stained Glass Monsters” would probably be my favourite, just because I love an incredibly powerful female protagonist.

Writing the Touchstone series as Cass’s diary allowed for some great insight into her character and the world she found herself in. What opportunities or restrictions did you find yourself facing, writing in this format?

When I started in on Cass’ story, I wanted to very strictly keep to the diary format – an entry for every day of her year, even the dull days! Fortunately I then set out to give Cass the least-dull year imaginable. Diary format puts the reader very strictly into Cass’ thoughts and opinions. If she doesn’t realise something, she won’t mention it. She has no ability to discern who is “important” to the story and so readily mentions all the people she meets, even if that’s the only time the reader will ever see them.

This resulted in a story which many readers find very ‘real’ and relatable, but at the same time assaults them with dozens of named characters, and offers pacing which does not match the traditional novel structure. I had great fun with some of the documentaries Cass watches – she’s been on Tare five or so months before she discovers the ‘cleaning nanites’ which live in the ducts. Cass is learning about the world she is in, and the reader only learns about what she chooses to write down – and she foregrounds early on that she is self-editing to a limited degree, leaving out some of her more miserable and upset moments.

What do you love about being an indie author?

Not sending out submissions. It’s such a negative process, and made me feel very negatively toward my writing. Self-publishing has been like having the shackles unlocked.

What is the oddest thing you’ve found yourself researching for your books?

I did a lot of research about stained glass windows (NOT for “Stained Glass Monsters” funnily enough). But because I write high fantasy set usually in Roman or Pre-Industrial equivalents, I research all sorts of day-to-day details for things like food preservation, and toilet arrangements – and then usually invent something more convenient!

Tell us a little bit about your next book.

My next release will be a YA Fantasy novel called “Hunting”, about a girl who has been living her life disguised as a boy. She makes an excellent boy, and has her own little group of friends called the Huntsmen, who are do-gooding vigilantes, roaming the streets at night rescuing people. But then her guardian is murdered, and she dedicates herself to tracking down the killer. Which I guess would make her Batman without the mask!

The release date will be in the first half of 2012 (no more exact than that – I’m terribly distracted by SW:TOR at the moment!).

Quick Questions-

Which would you pick- fame, money, happiness, or easy inspiration? Happiness.

Plotter or Pantser? Discovery writer (never liked ‘pantser’ as a term).

Word count of your last book? 50,000 words for a freebie extra for The Touchstone Trilogy.

How many drafts from first to final? Too many!

Author stereotypes, Yes or No-

Cat owner? Yes
Coffee Addict? No
Messy handwriting? Yes
Recluse? Yes (except for the day job!)
Late night writer? Yes
Spelling/grammar nazi? Sometimes. Nazi should be capitalised

You can find Andrea online at:

Web: www.andreakhost.com
Twitter: @dragonflyautumn
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Andrea-K-H%C3%B6st/231837496875272
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4493935.Andrea_K_H_st
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004F99RRY