Blog Tour Stop: Review - The Loved and the Lost by Lory S. Kaufman

A QUEST FOR LOST LOVE.

AN ADVENTURE OF MANY LIFETIMES.

They are three 24th-century time travelers desperate to return to 14th-century Verona and reclaim their medieval family’s shattered lives. It is a mission fraught with danger and the risk of unexpected consequences for themselves and their worlds. For all three, it is a matter of the heart. For one, though, it is truly the only thing that matters, as the fate of his eternal love and the life of their unborn child is the prize to be won – or lost forever.

In this, the final book of The Verona Trilogy, Hansum, Shamira and Lincoln go on the boldest adventure of their lives. They will face hardship, tragedy, and threats from sources they couldn’t have imagined – all in an effort to wrestle a future from the steely grip of an unforgiving past.

The Loved and the Lost is the final book in the Verona Trilogy by Lory S. Kaufman. This one shows Hansum and co. back in 24th century trying desperately to find a way to travel back to 14th century Italy and save Guilietta. They run in to obstacle after obstacle and you just want to scream at the people and the things that are standing in their way.

The trio are now part of the History Camp time traveling academy. Each one in their own special field. Shamira and Licoln seem to have found love but Hansum is still without the one who holds the key to his heart. With every minute that passes his need to try and rescue her grows greater and the readers frustration with the fact that it doesn't seem to be working grows right along with it.

It's funny. Parts of this book actually made me mad. I wanted to yell out at the characters "What are you DOING!?!" in certain parts of the story and then I remembered that it was a book... and they couldn't hear me. I really wish this series could be made in to a movie so I could see how everything unfolds on the big screen.

There are some interesting new characters introduced in this story. Like Pedang and Sideways. Pedang is a sword that can fight on his own and Sideways is a cloak that can transport the crew through time and back again, among other interesting things. I loved the trip to Haudenosaunee and the Onandoga people. Deganawida, their spiritual leader, was a favorite character of mine this go around. He aided Hansum in overcoming his grief and fears to the point where he was able to feel like his normal self again. The Onandoga people were an interesting mix of centuries before and modern day technology and customs. A peaceful community that was nice to read about.

Aside from that, there were definitely some heartbreaks in this story. For Hansum, for Shamira. Even for Arimus. This was, like the other 2 in this series, a book I couldn't put down. I sprained my ankle going for a run in the battlefield and came home to ice it and elevate it, and picked up book 3. By midnight of the next day I had finished it.

Lincoln has become one of my favorite characters of the series and unfortunately, I never did find a way to make myself like Ugilino. Despite the hardships he'd been through and the sad things he'd endured. He was reason for much of the pain and suffering for the group and I did not like him. Kingsley, another of the new characters in the series grew on me pretty quickly though. Ever the heroic protector.

I love the concept of time travel, and the way Kaufman portrays it in this particular series is interesting and thought provoking. The society he has set up is magnificent and the glimpse of the past that he shows us through the eyes of the three teens is wonderfully educational. I love the thought of the History Camps themselves and wish that we had things like that around now for all of the "hard cases" there seem to be these days.

This series is full of plot twists and turns and surprises and disappointments. It's full of on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense and hope and frustration in spades. If you come away from this series without having felt like it was one of the most wonderful things you've read... you should go back and read it again. It was a perfect end to a story I wish could have gone on forever.

“I write Post-Dystopian fiction. After society’s collapse, which is imagined in so many great dystopian stories, humans will either fade into history, with the dinosaurs, or, if it learns the right lessons, society will go on to construct a civilization to last tens of thousands of years. History Camp stories are the exciting adventures of young people doing the latter.” -Lory Kaufman

On the artistic side of Lory’s career, he’s written, acted and directed children’s theatre and musical theatre. He enjoys art, especially sculpture. He loves science fiction and historical fiction and he has been deeply involved in the green movement all across North America. All this shows through when you read his work. Lory has three grown children and works and lives in Kingston, Canada.

To find out more about Lory visit www.lorykaufman.com