Science Fiction series + New Book _The Fifth Vertex_ (August 2014)

Thanks to Kim Marie Nicols, a professional with experience in human services and educational programs working with individuals with hearing loss and who is fluent in American Sign Language, for contacting me about these books.

In July, she pointed me toward a Science Fiction series by A.C. Crispin and Kathleen O'Malley. The StarBridge series includes

“a terrific Deaf heroine whose deafness is an asset in creating a relationship with an alien race”. 

 She recommends that we check out Silent Dances (#2) and Silent Songs (#5) in the series and notes that we don’t need to read the first book in order to understand the premise… plus, that first book doesn’t include a deaf character.  

Kim just sent me an email this week about the The Fifth Vertex by Kevin Hoffman which she highly recommends.   

She writes,

“I am a huge fan of Sword and Sorcery fiction, and this book really delivers, faintly reminding me of The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In The Fifth Vertex, the lead hero, Urus, is deaf and fluent in 'Tradesign', a Gestuno-like sign language used throughout his world. Using signs also has a correlation to when he casts spells with his hands or looks at ancient runes on a vertex stone (one looks like the sign for 'open' and touching it brings him to another location). My only complaint is his amazing lipreading capabilities in multiple languages, especially when looking over his shoulder going up a dark spiral staircase. This is so farfetched from reality that it must be part of his magic - in the best of circumstances, only 30% of English words can be lipread. It is definitely a page-turner, with well developed characters and plot, and you won't want to put it down. Just be prepared for the cliff-hanger ending, since this is the first book in a series (which is still unwritten).”

Aside from reading novels, one of her others interests is collecting comics and cartoons pertaining to hearing loss. You can find some of these here: www.gocomics.com/collection/1311807. 

Thanks Kim!