Forgotten wins Second Place in CIPA's 2020 EVVY Awards

_{Forgotten: A Stepping Stone to the Stars, won second place at the Colorado Independent Publihers Association's 2020 Annual EVVY Awards for science fiction. The winners were announced Sept. 10, 2020, at a virtual awards ceremony in Denver.}

All of my novels, Forsaken, Forgiven and Forgotten have been reviewed by professional reveiwers. Below are the review received, starting with my last novel, Forgotten.

Blue Ink says Forgotten is "captivating."

Here is the full review by Blue Ink Review, Blue Ink is a nationally recognized review organization.

Forgotten: A Stepping Stone to the Stars

Richard D. Bangs

iUniverse, 340 pages, (paperback) $20.99, 9781532094743

(Reviewed: March, 2020)

    In Richard D. Bangs’s imaginative novel, Forgotten: A Stepping Stone to the Stars, fear, mistrust, and dissension emerge as humans establish their first contact with aliens.

    Divided into two parts, the story begins with an horrific event: a fuel tank explodes at a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) station. SETI is ahead of other groups after finally establishing first contact with aliens, and the arrival of the aliens, called Progenians, escalates tensions between nations and rival groups seeking exclusive access to Progenian technology and consequently to control space mining.

  Jarrod McKinley works with SETI to ensure the success of the relationship with Progenia. Meanwhile, antagonists are determined to stop SETI and Progenia’s collaboration, and someone in McKinley’s inner circle is out for revenge against him, waiting for the right opportunity to finally execute his plan. The second part follows McKinley as he leads a team on a planetary exploration mission with important implications to his world.

   McKinley is well-developed, with the author including information on his family background and romantic involvement with another main character. Supportive characters are equally impactful, adding depth to the plot.

   The story is replete with suspense, and striking descriptions of creatures from other planets make for a thrilling read. For example, while exploring other planets, the space team faces alarming situations, including a sentient planet bent on protecting itself from intruders; gigantic, strange-looking animals with triangular forms; snake-like vines that can understand communication, and rapidly growing pollen that covers everything in its path.

   The novel, however, reads like two separate books. While the parts have commonalities, the first focuses intensely on the establishment of first contact between the aliens and humans, while the second is largely dedicated to space exploration. Fortunately for readers, both parts are absorbing.

   Despite the somewhat divided narrative, Forgotten: A Stepping Stone to the Stars is a captivating work that should please science fiction fans.

Kirkus likes Forgiven: Finding a Path Home

Kirkus Reviews, a nationally recognized book review company has given a positive review to Forgiven: Finding a path home. The summation of the review reads, " An applealing fictionalization of the mysteries surrounding humanity's deisre to communicate with aliens." -- Kirkus Reivews.

This is great news and I hope will lead to some recognition and publicity for my sequel to Forsaken, perhaps it will give Forsaken some late-coming recognition.

To read the entire review of Forgiven, follow this link: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-d-bangs/forgiven2/

"Sci-Fi Book Tackles the 'Big' question Without Being Preachy"

This review was provided an an introduction to Forsaken: Searching for God's Fingeredprints, when it appear in the London Book Fair in March of 2015.

Veteran journalist and budding sci-fi writer proves sci-fi to be an effective medium to raise the questions of divine existence.

By the sound of its title, the book Forsaken: Searching for God's Fingerprints will be mistaken by readers as just another expository book that present the evidence for God or a creator or a divine power in the styles of Lee Strobel. But Forsaken, written by Richard D. Bangs, is a science fiction novel and its purpose is to entertain, not to preach.

The author does not only want to entertain readers with a good sci-fi story -- he also wants them to ponder the questions about divine existence, alien life, and space exploration. Knowing his readers to be intelligent, Bangs invites them to consider the possibility that we are not alone in the universe, and this he does through an action-packed work of science fiction.

By presenting the 'big' questions in a sci-fi narrative, Bangs engages the readers in a form of dialogue, not by inviting people to a talk where the speaker is the main attraction. He does not force his beliefs or findings on the readers, but instead invites them to consider the possibilities of alien life -- and answer the 'big' questions themselves. 

After publishing Forsaken, I started a blog to explore some of the issue that might go into forming the foundation of the sequels. In it I will be discussing such things as the formation of religion, alien environments, alien cultures and characters that could impact the story.

Contributions to the blog are encouraged. I contribute to it as I am inspired. I hope you will too.

You can reach the blog by clicking here, http://forsakensearchingforgodsfingerprint.blogspot.com

Now get chapter 1 of Forsaken: Searching for God's Fingerprints FREE! Go to this page for a FREE PDF download of chapter 1.

Quarterly royalties for Forsaken, Forgiven and Forgotten continue to trickle in. There are still more e-book sales than hardcopy.

_{Now that I have completed the third book in this seriers, part of the marketing will include selling the trilogy; Forsaken: Searching for God's Fingerprints, Forgiven: Finding a path home, and Forgotten: A Stepping Stong to the Stars.}