A Small and Remarkable Life

by Nick DiChario

Overview

What would it be like to be stranded on an alien planet, cut off from your own people, unsuited to your new environment, and physically different from everyone else? This is what the young alien Tink Puddah must face when his parents are killed on their first day on Earth in the year 1845, and Tink finds himself stranded in the Adirondack Mountains of North America. A story of courage, determination, hope and survival, "A Small and Remarkable Life" chronicles the journey of two lives headed in very different directions. The alien Tink Puddah, a lonely outsider who finds the strength and resources within him to endure the most brutal and unforgiving conditions, and the holy man, Jacob Piersol, determined to save Tink’s soul, but tortured by his own past and the God who seems unable to console him. From the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-nominated author comes this charming first novel about an orphaned alien who touches the lives of many people in upstate New York in the 19th century. Truly unforgettable!

Product Details

BN ID:	2940046057096
Publisher:	Nick DiChario
Publication date:	07/18/2014
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	292 KB

About the Author

My short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. I have been nominated for the Hugo and a World Fantasy awards, and my first two novels, A Small and Remarkable Life (2006) and Valley of Day-Glo (2008), both received nominations for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel of the Year. I've held many jobs since I was just a lad, including paperboy, dishwasher at a Catholic seminary, creative writing professor, indie bookstore owner, education director for a non-profit literary center, and writer/editor of corporate communications. I am a graduate of St. John Fisher College, and I earned my master’s degree from Empire State College in New York, focusing mainly on literature, philosophy, and writing. I love to read and write, and I am a lifelong mistake-maker. I hope you are too!

Editorial Reviews

"The author explores several issues, not just those of faith and love, but other serious, thought-provoking matters, such as euthanasia and the after-life. At the back of the book is a Book Club Guide which lists a series of questions to generate some discussion and reflection regarding the contents of the book. There is adventure but also a lot of thought-provoking commentary. . . A Small and Remarkable Life would be enjoyed by someone looking for thoughtful discussion of issues that are still with us today, or someone who is looking for a story that is just a little bit different from the normal in this genre. You don't have to be a hardened science fiction fan to enjoy this pleasant little tale. "

Recommended.

— CM Magazine

"Nick DiChario's first novel, A Small and Remarkable Life, is at core a 'man who fell to Earth' tale set in the mid-19th century Adirondacks backwoods. No lie, this is one small and remarkable book, powerful, full of unexpected story twists, suffused with a strange alien light and replete with a pathos that had this reviewer reaching for his tissue box within the first 15 pages."

— Scifidimentions.com

"A Small and Remarkable Life is a remarkable novel, but not a small one. With a persistence and sensitivity worthy of his quirky hero, DiChario quietly explores the big questions: faith, love, hope, and the true nature of reality. This is one of the most original first-contact novels I have ever read, and a must for everyone who cares about good fiction."

—Hugo Award-winner Nancy Kress

"I've been waiting a long time for this book. Hell, everyone has been waiting a long time for this book."

— Nebula Award-winner Mike Resnick, from his introduction

"Nick DiChario writes with a deft touch. Whether illustrating religious practices, a 19th-century game of baseball or the psychedelic Wetspace where Tink originated from, the author's prose reads like poetry. . . The juxtaposition of the future with the past is what makes A Small and Remarkable Life such an intoxicating science fiction. . . His story offers many insights into the truth of what it means to be human."

— hour.ca

From the Publisher