Lacy Dawn's father relives the never-ending Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend gets murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. She has one advantage - an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. He wants something in exchange. It's up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first. 
Rarity from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy, and satire -- a children's story for adults.
"The abuse in the book is graphic, but the story arc is hopeful: a family recovering and becoming better together." Publishers Weekly
"A fun, sometimes cleverly-gonzo, and even inspiring tale about an undaunted girl's close encounter of the weird kind." David Brin, Award Winning SciFi Author
"Amusing at times, shocking at others, a touching and somehow wonderful SFF read." Amazing Stories Magazine
"...In the space of a few lines we go from gritty realism to pure sci-fi/fantasy. It's quite a trip." The Missouri Review
"Brilliant satires such as this are genius works of literature in the same class as Orwell's Animal Farm. I can picture American Lit professors some time in the distant future placing this masterpiece on their reading list." Marcha Fox, Retired NASA Engineer and SciFi Author
"...utterly compelling...a chilling, engaging verisimilitude that deftly feeds on both the utter absurdity of the characters' motivations and on the progression of the plot.... In the spirit of Vonnegut, Eggleton takes the genre and gives it another quarter turn." Electric Review / Midwest Book Review
"...a hillbilly version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...what I would have thought impossible; taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse...tongue-in-cheek humor without trivializing them...profound...a funny book that most sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy." Awesome Indies (Gold Medal)
"...sneaks up you and, before you know it, you are either laughing like crazy or crying in despair, but the one thing you won't be is unmoved...a brilliant writer." Readers' Favorite (Gold Medal)
"The most enjoyable science fiction novel I have read in several years...." Temple Williams, Retired Editor, Reader's Digest
"..clever and engaging..satirical look at the 'alien' economics of consumerism..both fun and thought-provoking.." Tales of the Talisman Magazine
"...There is much here worthy of high praise...Eggleton reminds me very much of Robert Heinlein at his peak...." SF Crowsnest
"...Good satire is hard to find and science fiction satire is even harder to find." The Baryon Review
"...laugh-out-loud funny at times, satiric of almost everything it touches upon..." Atomjack Science Fiction Magazine
"...This piece of speculative fiction is nothing like anything I've read before. It faces reality head-on while also pursuing themes that are outlandish... amazed by how the author has aptly mingled tragedy with humor...." Page Hungry Bookworm
"...a story with humour and darkness and plenty of twists and turns...." Splash into Books
"...It is one of those books that if it does not make you think, you are not really reading it...." On My Kindle
"...the writing feels timeless, classic and mature...could be read in a college setting both for the craft itself and its unique brand of storytelling. The premise was brilliant" My Trending Stories
"...reminds me of books like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Catch22, and Spike Milligan's Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. If you liked those books, you'll love this one." Dr. Bob Rich, Prominent Australian Psychologist and Author
"...difficult, funny, terribly sad, absolutely true, and extremely well told. It should be the winner of literary prizes...." Mary Thornburg, Award Winning SciFi Author
I read once that the foundation of Science Fiction was captured in the two words; what if!
I’ve also heard these words used as a therapeutic tool; what if you woke up tomorrow and things had changed, things were better, what would that be like? So, what would that tomorrow be like if you were a very smart 12-year-old girl called Lacy Dawn, and you lived in a rundown farm property in near poverty. In ‘Rarity from the Hollow’, Robert Eggleton has some very surprising answers to that question.
But here’s a few more what ifs to help set the scene; what if Lacy Dawn‘s war traumatised dad spent half his day stoned on weed and regularly beat her and her mother? And what if Lacy Dawn’s best friend Faith had been beaten to death by her abusive father, but was still keeping her company as a spirit that could jump from object to object? And what if, somewhere along the way, Lacy Dawn had learned the magical ability to transport herself telekinetically, skimming across the ground at great speed? And what if Lacy Dawn’s secret friend, DotCom, was a super intelligent shape-shifting alien bio-android who lived in a hidden cave nearby? And what if Dotcom was here on earth for a very specific reason, a reason that probably makes Lacy Dawn the most important person on our planet!
Rarity from the Hollow by Robert Eggleton is the most enjoyable science fiction novel I have read in several years. Who could think of an intergalactic handbook for entrepreneurs? Who could turn a tree-hugger into a paranormal event of death-defying significance? Who could create characters so believable, so funny, so astonishingly human (and not)?
Robert Eggleton, that’s who.
I put this book on my IPhone, and it followed me everywhere for several days. Strangers smiled politely at my unexpected laughter in the men’s room toilet stall. They looked away as I emerged, waving the IPhone at them as if it might explain something significant.
Oddly, the novel explains a great deal that has become significant in our society. Rarity from the Hollow is satire at its best and highest level. It is a psychological thriller, true to traits of mankind (and other species). It is an animal rights dissertation (you will laugh when you understand why I write that). It celebrates the vilest insect on earth (make that Universe).
The characters created by Robert Eggleton will bug your brain long after you smoke, uh, read the final page. Thanks for the laughs, the serious thoughts, the absolute wonder of your mind, Mr. Eggleton. A truly magnificent job.
“Rarity from the Hollow is a harsh, yet alluring sci-fi tale of a young girl’s journey to fix her dysfunctional family and save the Universe, in a world that profits from human exploitation.”
Lacy Dawn, the main protagonist is an eleven year old girl living in poverty with her abusive father and depressed mother in the Appalachian Mountains. Lacy has an entire wood full of tree friends, a dead best friend, and an android boyfriend called, DotCom, who has a spaceship hidden in a mountain. Lacy desperately wants to fix her family and insists that DotCom must help her by plugging her parents unknowingly into a computer that she hopes will fix them. DotCom agrees on the condition that Lacy Dawn must save the Universe in exchange for the designation of Earth as a planet. Lacy agrees, unaware at first that it’s her destiny and that her personal evolution has been monitored for generations for the sole purpose on when she will be ready to sign the contract.
Eggleton successfully combines and exposes a number of disturbing issues such as child abuse, puberty, human misery and poverty from the mind of young heroine that is yearning to escape the horrors of her everyday life. Rarity from the Hollow is detailed, dark and beautifully written by a competent writer who injects plenty of satire, sci-fi and fantasy elements into a work of thought-provoking and meaningful adult/fantasy fiction at its very best.
The brief for this story (A Children's Story for Adults) sets the tone for this off-the-wall (in my opinion), very appealing Appalachia tale. Serous in its depiction of life in Appalachia and humorous in the antics of some of the characters.
Let me say up-front: once the novel progresses from the hollow to the universe, humor prevails -- off-beat and droll with a hint of the farcical. This is a contrast novel alternating between humor, fantasy adventure, and decadence.
The story begins by introducing the reader to two young girls, best friends, living in poverty in the hollow, a backward community stereotypical of Appalachia. Lacy Dawn, almost a teen, the protagonist, has wisdom beyond her years, precocious, with a special way about her. She speaks to the trees and to her dead friend, and she has a mysterious, secretive teacher who is not of this world. She has been given a task of saving the universe, a destiny she did not seek, but one she readily embraces.
The characters form a rich tapestry of colorful individuals that portray the nature of life in the hollow; some are mean and some are bizarre, mostly not typical of society as we imagine it. This is an uncanny fantasy that contrasts with the reality of the hollow. For example, there are detailed descriptions of life in the hollow, the transformation of Lacy Dawn's father from a veteran suffering from the shock of war to his cure by her other-worldly teacher (OWT), and the conversion of OWT from android to human. Thank Lacy Dawn; she saved the universe from a unique, near disaster. Reviewed by the author of The Children's Story, About Good and Evil.
This book is available from various retailers in the following formats:
Paperback Ebook (.mobi) Ebook (.epub)Robert Eggleton has served as a children's advocate in an impoverished state for over forty years. Locally, he is best known for his nonfiction about children’s programs and issues, much of which was published by the West Virginia Supreme Court. Today, he is a retired children's psychotherapist from the mental health center in Charleston, West Virginia, where he specialized in helping victims cope with and overcome maltreatment and other mental health concerns. Rarity from the Hollow is his debut novel. Author proceeds support the prevention of child maltreatment. For a complete listing of specific services, including the agency history and its mission, please see: http://www.childhswv.org.
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