Book Reviews
FLIGHT a Quantum Fiction novel, by Vanna Bonta
A love story of unforgettable characters plays out the quantum nature of reality and Life throughout the universe.
BOOK REVIEWS Literary Trade Reviews
TITLE: FLIGHT: A Quantum Fiction Novel, by Vanna Bonta
398 pp. Meridian House
$23.95 Cloth ISBN-10: 0912339101, ISBN-13: 978-0912339108
$14.95 Paper ISBN-10: 0912339179, ISBN-13:978-0912339177
$48.95 Audiobook
Book reviews of Vanna Bonta's
FLIGHT A Quantum Fiction Novel
appear in this order:
- Booklist, American Library Association
- Publishers Weekly 6/1995
- BookBrowser:Review, Harriet Klausner 3/26/98
- Hawaii Rational Enquirer
- Bruce Stephen Holms, Timeless Voyager Radio
- St. Petersburg Times, Delilah Jones Shapiro
- Bodhi Tree Bookstore, Catalogue
- Midwest Book Review
- Adventures Unlimited Magazine, Nicole Lindroos Frein
- The Tolucan, Elizabeth McCallan
- Sorcerer's Scroll Magazine (Fanzine)
- The Star Beacon, Ann Carol Ulrich
- Book Buzz Review News 12 Feb 1999
- Audiobook reviews (2008)
Audiobook Edition
AUDIOBOOK TRADE REVIEWS 2008
""Vanna Bonta reads her own work and is a refreshing and engaging narrator. She occasionally uses vocal effects but never to excess. This is a book with much to say." - AUDIOFILE, June 2008
"Bonta's reading is clear and provides a satisfying atmosphere for this tale. Recommended." - LIBRARY JOURNAL, March 2008
"Readers will feel part of the story, and will hate to see it end. You don't have to be a fan of science fiction to read this book, it's a cross-genre novel that everyone will enjoy." - Blogctritics, Ruth Augustine, May 2008
"...her (Bonta's) performance is brilliant ... I was hooked on this story, the tale is ingenious." - AUDIOGEIST, February 2008
"Vanna Bonta's voice is entrancing - quickly making an engrossing connection between the listeners and the characters; her versatility as a voice actor brings a very realistic feel to the book.
The combination of the characters, storyline, and Bonta's voice make the audio book an intense and memorable experience." - BOSTON Now, January 2008
"Bonta's voice keeps each character completely unique, a challenge in many audio books. Flight is an amazingly positive, life-affirming book, filled with beauty." - Gaggle of Book Reviews, January 2008
"Vanna Bonta has written a novel within a novel that will captivate readers with a story of inter-dimensional space travel." - Blogcritics
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American Library Association Prolific songwriter, journalist, and TV screenwriter Bonta turns to the novel and creates an auspicious genre-bending parable that splices together quantum physics, crazy coincidences, the SF convention scene, and true love. Intrepid interdimensional space traveler Aira Flight is the heroine of writer Mendle Orion's award-winning novels and also the object of his most cherished fantasies. When a naked, amnesiac woman appears in his hotel room during an sf convention, Mendle rejoices that his faith in the power of love and cosmic coincidence has magically brought Aira to life. His ex-girlfriend, however, questions his already dubious sanity and investigates the girl's true identity. Yet as Aira's memory returns, so does her power, as the unlimited-energy being Mendle envisioned, to teach all those around her to create their own realities. Bonta's storytelling skills transform an outlandish New Age premise into a refreshing send-up of SF stereotypes that, remarkably, also works as an inspiring romantic adventure. -Carl Hays
Whatever "quantum fiction" is, we need more of it. Bonta's first novel is reminiscent of Heinlein for its exuberant infusion of mystery, romance and adventure into good, basic SF. The narrative includes extensive notes on the calculation of the speed of time as well, just to remind genre fans that science is the flavoring for SF. The story opens slowly, with a prologue of poetry and then a first chapter written by the main character, Mendle Orion, who is an SF writer. Orion admires his own work, above all his newest character, Aira Flight, who winds up crossing over into his reality through the power of true love. The crossover is powerful enough to bring Aira's pet/friend Onx along for the ride, too. Asides about bathtub books, self-doubt tapes and other foibles, running from the quirky to the hilarious, help propel the action through a boilerplate save-the-world-from-evil plot. But that story line is in any case secondary to the web of believable relationships and interactions that Bonta spins; the sex scenes, though not graphic, are particularly moving. SF fans looking for something new but not uncomfortably so will find this novel just the ticket. (June)
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FYI: Bonta has written for Star Trek: The Next Generation and did voice-over for Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
BookBrowser Review: Flight by Vanna Bonta
Meridian, Feb. 1998, 396 pp.
ISBN:Genre: Speculative Fiction
Reviewer: Harriet Klausner
Reviewed: 3/26/98 Mendle J. Orion, science fiction writer and poet, cherishes his latest literary creation, Aira Flight. When he finds a naked amnesiac, who looks identical to his beloved Aira, he believes that his deep abiding love for her has brought the fictional character to life. To substantiate his belief that this is Aira in the flesh, her friend from his novel Onx has also materialized.
Sandra Wilford wants Mendle for herself. Though she is brilliant (in a calculating way) and beautiful, she knows that she cannot compete with his characters when they only remain on a printed page. If Aira has come to life as Mendle claims, Sandra realizes that, unless she does something drastic she has lost her man. She begins to investigate the amnesiac, but learns things about mankind that would have turned the head of Dr. Frankenstein.
Science fiction fans need to take a FLIGHT into a very interesting novel where quantum physics meets human relationships at the crossroads of dreams and reality. The story line is fun as it humorously jabs save the world and self help books and tapes. Mendle is an interesting dreamer while Sandra is an intriguing schemer. However, it is the ephemeral Aira who steals the show, leaving readers to understand the premise that I think, therefore I create. Vanna Bonta�s novel is the best look at the quantum physics universe since the Professor Q books of Trevor Hoyle. Great work that will be devoured by fans who enjoy unique science fiction.
Copyright � BookBrowser, 1998. Reprinted with permission.
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H-A-W-A-I-I R-A-T-I-O-N-A-L I-N-Q-U-I-R-E-R
Vol. 1 No. 5 Mar. 21, 1996 **************************************THE LATEST LITERARY GENRE: QUANTUM FICTION Those of you who are intrigued by notions such as Deepak Chopra's "Quantum Healing," in which disease and aging are all reversible because the act of human consciousness causes all physical reality to come into being, will be interested in this new book:
FLIGHT: A Quantum Fiction Novel, Vanna Bonta
$14.95 400p. ISBN
SUMMER 1996
The author defines the new genre for which she coined the term "Quantum Fiction" as "the evolution of literature which reflects today's age where science has caught up to fiction and meets spirit."
As described on the internet, character Mendle Orion embodies another common human condition, biological impulse vs. intelligence. Mendle's inner conflicts about drives for sensation (sex and substance) and his search for understanding and true love are played out in a romantic adventure that runs the gamut of "the perfect body" to UFO's. A poetic, reflective beginning builds into action-packed, riveting mystery of true-identities woven with amazing coincidences, unfolding into discoveries of incredible secrets about humanity which had been too close for anyone to see, an ending that is astounding but supported and made plausible by the latest quantum science.
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Timeless Voyager Radio
"Vanna Bonta resides on Earth? I think not! FLIGHT is absolutely 'the beginning of the end' of trite, simplistic stories that have followed the same blueprint for ages. It is time to move into the realms reserved for Plato and Dante. No longer will ordinary parameters of belief dictate that future follows the present, and that the present follows the past. It is time to accept the quantum vision of the universe and FLIGHT opens the door to the incredible. I loved it!" -Bruce Stephen Holms
St. Petersburg Times
By DELILAH JONES SHAPIRO
ATTENTION VANNA BONTA FANS:
FLIGHT: A Quantum Fiction Novel may be the first work of 'quantum fiction' in recorded history.Delilah Jones Shapiro lives and writes in New York.
BODHI TREE BOOKSTORE
Bodhi Tree Bookstore - Catalogue
LiteratureIn Bonta's rollicking new novel, science-fiction writer Mendle J. Orion has created the perfect heroine in the delectable Aira Flight. To his shock and delight, she comes alive one rainy night, speaking of a metaphysical message for mankind and bringing quantum theory to life. This "mystery action-adventure romance in the space age" introduces readers to a new genre on the frontiers of scientific discovery, with a nod to quantum theory that thought affects matter. If you've ever noticed strange coincidences in your own life, felt far from home. or wished for true love, you'll feel right at home in Flight's world.
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Flight: A Quantum Fiction Novel by Vanna Bonta
A science fiction writer's invented space character seemingly becomes real when the isolated man faces a very similar real woman with amnesia. An ex-girlfriend probes the newcomer's background and the roots of her boyfriend's madness and finds some shocking truths in this complex quasi-science fiction novel.
ADVENTURES UNLIMITED MAGAZINE I'll admit that when I was approached about doing a review of the book Flight: A Quantum Fiction Novel, in my Tools of the Trade column, I was a bit apprehensive. I was afraid that the novel wouldn't be suffiently inspirational as game material, which is, of course, the focus of this column. The whole thing sounded, well, terribly New Age and having witnessed some of the backlash against Everway's "New Age" tone, the last thing I wanted to do was to push our readers further down that path.
Instead, I was pleasantly surprised and entertained. The author, Vanna Bonta, (who you might actually have seen as Zed's Queen in "The Beastmaster") has crafted an enchanting story with vibrant characters. The novel is definitely worthy of attention and is much in the same vein as Richard Bach's Illusions or Robert Pirsig's Lila. The main character, Mendle Orion, could be one of any number of gamers or members of science fiction fandom. He is "a rebel and a misfit" according to the book's dust jacket, but, hey, aren't we all, a little? As the story unfolds, Mendle, a science fiction writer, begins to feel like one of those stereo-typical gamers who has stepped over that line and gotten too wrapped up in his character. It doesn't help matters any that one of his characters, Aira Flight, has apparently come to life beside him.
This book would be of special interest to fans of Mage: the Ascention, Amber Diceless, or possibly Everway (although the direct inspiration is a bit too sci-fi for that strictly fantasy game). I imagine there are some science-fantasy gamers out there who would find this book a delight, but it's a bit too soft around the edges for my hard-core science fiction acquaintances. However, Bonta has written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it shows in the tight plot and excellent character development. It's a hefty book, weighing in at 400 pages, but I was so engrossed the pages just flew by. The novel is being released in paperback this summer, and is available from Meridian House. (ISBN, US $14.95) Ready for Quantum Fiction?
-Nicole Lindroos Frein
THE TOLUCAN Flight is Farrrrrr Out!
by Elizabeth McCallan (May 3, 1995, Burbank, CA)
Although Flight is Vanna Bonta's first novel, it most certainly will not be her last. She has been included in this year's Who's Who in Writers, Editors and Poets and was first published when she was eleven years old. Her work includes screenwriting, short fiction stories, journalism and poetry.
Bonta describes Flight as a love story, and she states "nothing would exist without love." Flight protagonist Mendle Orion, a misfit obsessed with coincidence and synchronicity, dumps his real girlfriend with the "perfect body" for his fantasy of an ideal love that exists only in his mind. His fantasy "love object" becomes the heroine of a novel that he is writing. One day he meets a woman who strongly resembles his fantasy woman. He finds that she has amnesia and a past that is unknown. From this blank canvas his new-found goddess, Aira Flight, is born.
The mystery unfolds and we find our characters at science fiction conventions where they are caught up in intrigue, UFO's, sex, mystery and quantum physics.
The novel carries an anti-drug message which the author says keeps " 'observers' (earthlings) free from the influences that keep their thoughts trapped in the maze."
When asked about the ending of the novel, and if it could really happen, the author says, "Why not, much stranger things have happened."
Sorcerer's Scroll Magazine
FLIGHT Speed, Breaking the Genre Barrier
FLight by Vanna Bonta (Meridian House, ISBN Hardcover, $23.95)FLight is a novel debut for screenwriter, actress, poet Vanna Bonta. Enthusiasm about this book has been traveling across the US. "This book has everything in it," one reader declares. "It's not one of those safe 'formula" pasteurizations being churned out," celebrates another. FLight (the light part lights up) is a fantastic allegory paralleling the universe of body, mind, and soul in a setting of true love, mystery, UFO's, quantum science, and down home heart-spun ideals. The novel introduces new super-heroine Aira Flight, created in the "novel-within-a-novel" structure by the novel's hero Mendle Orion, a writer who skates the brink of reality. Much of the action takes place at SF conventions, including a World Con and Capricon. It is sub-titled "A Quantum Fiction Novel", a term the author coined. "Vanna Bonta has broken the genre barrier," one review states. The American Library Association calls FLight "genre-bending" and "inspiring romantic adventure." Publishers Weekly (June 26) declares, "Whatever 'quantum fiction' is, we need more of it." It also states Bonta is "reminescent of Heinlein."
Vanna Bonta, who has written for Star Trek, The Next Generation and performed voiceovers for films including Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", was included in this years Who's Who in Writers, Editors, & Poets. She began writing at age six and was first published at age eleven. Signed first editions of her novel FLight have been requested for auction in the USA and England. At Millenicon in Dayton, Ohio a signed copy of FLight brought in $600 for "A Special Wish Foundation."
Some bookstores still have first editions.New fiction at its best describes the novel Flight by Vanna Bonta, a novel of mystery, action-adventure and romance in the Space age. Vanna Bonta who has written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, et al, delivers a style that satisfies the hunger for a good read while Truth shines through in thoughts and dialogue of her strong and well-developed characters. You can't help but love each one, even the conniving and competitive Sandra Wilford, who is determined to win Mendle Orion's heart by destroying his real-life fantasies. Mendle, a sci-fi writer infatuated with Aira Flight, the heroine in his novels, cannot believe it when the girl of his dreams actually materializes inside his hotel room bathroom at a writers' conference.
She has amnesia, but after a while demonstrates incredible powers of the mind, including levitation and healing ability. I haven't enjoyed a book such as Flight in quite some time. Flight confirms my belief that fiction is still a powerful means of spreading truth. As a novelist, I bestow upon Ms. Bonta the highest compliment: I wish I had written this one! -Ann Carol Ulrich, author Return to Terra
Book Buzz Review News - 12 Feb 1999This one had me doing the dance of joy. I love science fiction! Though quantum fiction? Quantum fiction left me tweaking my nose in puzzlement.
Flight is hard to describe. Words alone are not accurate. You have to experience Flight more than merely read it.
I will say this, the characters are vividly drawn, and none more so than that of the protagonist, Mendle J. Orion, an interdimensional traveler and science fiction author. The one who can create such a character and the characters bouncing around this book is truly amazing.
Read it.
Book reviews (c) copyright respective publications.
FLIGHT: A Quantum Fiction Novel, by Vanna Bonta
Collector's hardcover edition ISBN 0912339101
Paperback ISBN 0912339179
eBook for
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