Xulon Press (2010)
ISBN 9781609574628
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age 12) for Reader Views (08/10)

Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar of Reader Views is pleased to be joined by Terry S. Goudy, who is here to talk about his new book, “Castlebots, Book One: From Earth to the Asteroid.”

Goudy, a resident of California, believes that his story—a modern parallel for the 21st century—is much-needed entertainment for these breathless times. He credits his non-verbal autistic son with inspiring the story. “He has taught me more about life than I have ever taught him,” he says. “Hopefully some of these insights I’ve learned have slipped into the story.”

Tyler: Welcome, Terry. I’m happy that you could join me today. To begin, will you explain the title to us? Just what is “Castlebots”?

Terry: For the Castlebots story, I dreamed up a medieval setting, with some high-tech robots, castles, fair ladies and knights in shining armor. I think “castle robots” served as my working name in the beginning. Then somehow I shortened it to Castlebots and asked one of my nephews about how it sounded to him. He really liked Castlebots. So, as they say, the rest is history. Castlebots it was from that time forward!

Tyler: Where does the story take place—is it a completely fictional place?

Terry: The story takes place on the brand new, two-month-old Star Park space station, truly a 21st century marvel of engineering and technology. This is the place where Star Park readers meet the many worlds of Star Park Adventures. For each virtual reality adventure, the Star Park system of computers comes up with a completely fictional world inside the space station area. Of course, the Star Park space station is not a real place. But as space tourism steadily unfolds itself as time passes, who knows when some day, sooner than later, some place like this may suddenly show up in next week’s, or next month’s, or next year’s triumphant headline!

Tyler: What made you interested in combining two anachronistic ideas—the medieval period and robots, rather than just focusing on one or the other?

Terry: Scott has very little time, most likely ten days or less, to figure out how to save Earth from the threatening rogue asteroid. Scott is thrust into an unlikely scenario with both a medieval and a futuristic world combined oddly. This peaceful land is strangely populated with medieval knights and fair ladies who are high tech robots as well.

There’s just something about changing the dynamics of the situation that can stir things up more, to bring more chance of a breakthrough. This can happen by being able to look at something in a slightly different way.

As things go forward, this may actually end up proving to be a help to Scott. This may even provoke Scott to achieve a breakthrough and solve the asteroid threat in time.

Certainly this perplexing world of the Castlebots challenges Scott’s wits to the uttermost. He can’t assume anything. He has to start from scratch and consider every clue, every possibility existing in this nonsensical world. Scott has to figure out how to deal with a rogue asteroid yet he is only surrounded by peaceful settings. Scott experiences inner turmoil and frustration because nothing makes sense. But he doesn’t give up.

Having such a chaotic situation forces Scott to consider any source for a solution to his horrendous problem. In life sometimes we overlook obvious solutions.

I once heard a story many years ago but don’t remember the source. But the story was about a semi truck that unfortunately just barely became stuck beneath an underpass. The truck wouldn’t move no matter what was attempted. A great many adults were standing around trying to figure out how to fix the situation.

Finally a youth came up to the adults and wanted to talk to them. It was hard to get the adults’ attention because they were too busy trying to figure out the bad situation. But the youth finally was able to ask why they didn’t just simply let the air out of the tires and drive the truck away. And of course that was the solution.

Tyler: Will you tell us about the main character Scott Freeman?

Terry: Scott Freeman is a sixteen-year-old, adventurous, brown-haired, muscular teenager with a good sense of humor, a caring heart, and a zest for life. Scott loves sports, games, computers, and excitement, and world-sized virtual reality adventures. He is especially devoted to and protective of his fifteen-year-old sister Ann. Ann suffers from a terminal illness. His greatest dream is to use the world-sized virtual reality adventure to figure out a cure for her disease.

Tyler: Will you explain a little more about how the virtual reality games work in your book?

Terry: The Star Park space station itself is like a huge empty balloon on the inside with lots of open space, with a hard exterior. Here Star Park also features a gigantic system of colossal computers with incredibly massive computing power. There is only the huge computer room and a launch area where the adventurer or adventurers transition into the virtual reality world. The rest is wide-open empty space inside the vast space station, ready for the virtual reality adventure to begin.

The adventurer assumes an identity or disguise. The system of computers could make the adventurer into any kind of a person or creature. The system of computers superimposes a holographic suit on top of each adventurer. This gives each person his identity and possible disguise.

The holographic suit has a special language translator that allows the characters to understand each other’s language.

The Star Park system of computers collects information from and about the adventurers. The system of computers has the ultimate decision on what type of adventure will unfold.

But the Star Park computers will also accept suggestions from adventurers and their supporters. So Scott, General Z, and Dr. Lively can ask for the Star Park virtual reality adventure to have something to do with figuring out how to defend Earth against a rogue asteroid.

Scott could say he wants to be an astronomy professor in the virtual reality world with lots of knowledge about asteroids. But the system of computers acts completely independently and could cast Scott as a giraffe or anything else at all. The computers are not obligated to accept any suggestions.

To be able to leave the adventure, the adventurer must figure out and say aloud secret code words he or she figures out. These code words could be simply a couple of words, a phrase, or a collection of words.

Tyler: Isn’t a virtual reality game still fantasy? So how could Ann find a cure for her disease using one?

Terry: A virtual reality adventure world, such as the one at Star Park, could possibly be used to “crunch” the probabilities to help look for a solution to Ann’s rare disease.

I read an interesting Internet article concerning Thomas Edison. It said that within a period of a few years, Thomas Edison and those working with him tested at least three thousand different theories before finally developing a good light bulb.

In the same way, the great computational resource of the Star Park system of computers itself might turn out to be a giant help. The virtual reality world could generate, simulate, and test various scenarios, possibly leading Ann, Scott and others closer to a cure.

Tyler: I understand that while “Castlebots” is the first book in the series “From Earth to Asteroid” that Scott first appeared in your book “Star Park” First Adventure.” Will you tell us a little about that book? Should people read it first before reading “Castlebots”?

Terry: To answer your question about which novel to read first, I think it would work great in either order. I would say both books have self-contained stories. So we could read “Castlebots, Book One: From Earth to the Asteroid” first, and then “Star Park, First Adventure” second. Or we could just as easily start with “Star Park: First Adventure” and then read “Castlebots, Book One: From Earth to the Asteroid.”

In “Star Park, First Adventure” you meet Scott as he enters a globally publicized contest sponsored by Star Park Computers. To enter the contest, the winner has to purchase a computer from Star Park Computers and design and submit a short sample virtual reality adventure. As a bonus prize, if the winner figures out secret code words and says them aloud during the adventure, that lucky person also wins the dream job of Adventure Master and will oversee all future adventures. After winning the contest, Scott voyages to the Star Park space station, arriving with high expectations. But it’s soon evident that someone wants him to fail. The program has been sabotaged and becomes potentially dangerous. Will Scott decipher the code, not to attain the position of Adventure Master, but simply to escape alive and return to Earth?

Tyler: What is significant about the virtual reality adventures that Scott participates in and promotes?

Terry: The adventure worlds provide the fun and freedom to experience life honestly and to the fullest.

Scott Freeman, for instance, enjoys the thrill of adventure as he survives his beginning time in the Realm of the Castlebots. Scott quickly meets a variety of really extraordinary characters and creatures. And then as things progress, Scott keeps trying to figure things out. But all the while, he manages to experience a whole lot of fun.

As the adventure unfolds, Scott faces huge challenges, many obstacles, and baffling situations one after another without a moment to catch his breath, so to speak.

The clock meanwhile keeps ticking loudly and Earth’s survival hangs in the balance. Scott is hard pressed to know how to make sense of what’s happening. Scott knows he needs to develop a rescue plan for Earth and must unlock the mystery of knowing what he needs to do to secure Earth’s survival. Toss into the mix the symphony of all the other things that are preoccupying him.

Scott desperately needs at the same time to figure out secret code words very soon. He will have to say the secret code words aloud for the computers to hear so he can win the adventure and exit at the appropriate moment.

Scott is highly challenged by his adventures and enjoys many thrilling experiences. All these experiences are preparing him as well to be the best Adventure Master he can be. Some day soon, he will be using all that he has learned to develop thrilling adventures for even more future visitors to the world-sized virtual reality worlds on the Star Park Space Station.

Tyler: Who is General Z and how does he affect that reality adventure?

Terry: A select group of leaders representing various governments around the world chose General Z to spearhead the top secret project to eliminate the threatening asteroid estimated to arrive at Earth in ten days or less. General Z prepares and challenges Scott to live up to his greatest potential and think clearly and decisively as Scott steps into the virtual reality world. General Z encourages Scott to face the task of keeping the real world a wonderful place.

Tyler: Who do you think is the target reading audience for “Castlebots”?

Terry: The main audience is basically ages ten and up. “Star Park, First Adventure” surprised me because some kids as young as eight reported they read the book with no problem and really liked it. I received favorable feedback as well from many older teens and adults who enjoyed the book. They were fascinated by the amazing worlds and personalities found in the Star Park Adventures.

Tyler: What made you decide to write a book for that pre-teen to young adult age group?

Terry: My maternal grandmother, who lived about a thousand miles away in Kansas when I was a child, was a part-time author and painter, once she had retired from being a full-time farmer’s wife. She was very creative.

When I was in third grade, I sent her some poems and short stories I had written. Without being asked, she surprised me by typing them up and put them in a little booklet with a few extra copies. I assumed my writing career had begun, now that I had a few copies in print.

I was always interested in writing but my interest increased from that point on. I had lots of story ideas but basically I continued to write stories for my own amusement only.

But I was always somehow connecting with print. I was the editor of the junior high school newspaper and the business manager of the high school yearbook. In high school and college I wrote a few articles for the local newspapers.

Tyler: When did you first decide to write books, or this book specifically?

Terry: One Christmas in college, when I had very little money, I came up with the crazy idea of writing a story down and then recording it with my own voice narrating. Then I was going to make copies for my family. But it turned out when I added everything up, I didn’t have the money to buy the recording materials. I don’t really remember now what I came up with as Christmas presents for my family instead that year.

Later on, when I had graduated from college, out of the blue my maternal grandmother gave me a book on how to write novels for this age group. I think she could tell I especially liked that age group. So I used the book to learn how to begin writing for basically ages ten and up.

Anyway, that manuscript which I had once wanted to narrate as a recording for Christmas gifts eventually became “Star Park: First Adventure.” It first sat around for years, many years. Just for fun, in 2006, I decided to publish it.

Tyler: What would you say has most influenced you in your writing—other authors or movies, or just life events in general?

Terry: I guess it would be my maternal grandmother who most influenced my writing. Although she was more into poetry, she was always a great encouragement. But I also had a lot of positive encouragement from my elementary, junior high, and high school teachers. I guess I owe it most to my maternal grandmother, who was a humble Kansas farmer’s wife, who planted, watered, and fertilized the literary seeds from early in my childhood through my adult years. I guess you could say my grandmother was an unsung hero in my life, always encouraging me.

Tyler: Terry, beyond the story, do you believe “Castlebots” has a message you want to convey to your readers?

Terry: You have a future and a hope available to you. Not everyone is going to have to face an asteroid heading right toward them, like Scott Freeman has to face. But despite any challenges, and even with some challenges that may prove to be gigantic, the readers will hopefully come to realize that they, too, can have a sure future and a hope available to them.

Each reader, like Scott Freeman, in his or her own way can become an unsung hero, too, and live a life full of hope, purpose, and significance. This is a breaking news alert delivered through the gift of storytelling, that you have the opportunity to have a future and a hope.

The world is a better place when there are unsung heroes in our midst who don’t need the glory or the applause of the world. You don’t need to be a rock star to be a solid rock where you are, a solid rock undergirding your friends, family, and world, sure of your future and your hope.

Tyler: Why do you feel it is important to spread that message and why did you choose fiction as the vehicle for it?

Terry: I think this is an especially good time, in the haste and hurry of these fast-paced times in the 21st century, to encourage and support one another in our country, and in our world. Times are rough for many but we can pull through together.

You don’t have to write a book to encourage someone, but that may be the way your life has prepared you to do it. For someone different from me, you might take a meal to a sick neighbor, or simply give someone an encouraging greeting card.

Tyler: In your introduction, I mentioned your autistic son. Will you tell us a little about him and how he inspired the novel?

Terry: He is very visual and in his own way adventurous. He would rather type his name on a computer than write it on paper. He is happy and cheerful and gives me “high-fives” jubilantly. He works hard. His patience is a great example to me and I learn from him. Just like Scott Freeman, he has a gigantic adventurous challenge ahead of him that at times is seemingly impossible to overcome. But he’s up to the challenge and he faces life’s adventure squarely with often a smile or a grin on his face. As the old saying goes, “My hat’s off to him!” and anyone else who has the courage to face life’s difficulties and valiantly forge ahead with purpose.

Tyler: Terry, will you give us a preview of the second book? What will be its title, when will it be released, and what it will be about?

Terry: “Castlebots, Book Two: From Here to Eternity,” is in a second draft stage with about eighty percent of the book written. I’m hoping it won’t be long before the final draft is ready for editing.

What’s exciting to me is that between the conclusion of the first Castlebots book and the beginning of the second Castlebots book, only about ten minutes of time have elapsed. So after we’ve enjoyed the first Castlebot story, in the second Castlebot tale, we move right into the concluding story of the Castlebots’ amazing and promising future.

In the second Castlebots book, with the second wind of his recently acquired knowledge, Scott charges back to the Realm of the Castlebots. He desperately must awaken the Castlebots to the undeniable reason for their being there on the asteroid in the first place. Quickly, Scott embraces the uphill battle of persuading the Castlebots.

Furthermore, Scott is really hard-pressed to figure out the secret code words and then be able to say them aloud at just the right time. But before he can say the code words, Scott knows he must successfully muster a wake up call that stirs the Castlebots into action and catapults them back into place, their rightful place in the universe, fulfilling their design and purpose.

Tyler: How many books will there be in the series?

Terry: I envision seven books in the series in the hopefully not too distant future. I can hardly wait for all the fun and excitement to bubble up from the springs of imagination and unfold into surprising, engaging adventures that we can all share and enjoy together.

Tyler: Thank you for the opportunity to interview you today, Terry. Before we go, will you tell us about your website and what additional information may be found there about “Castlebots”?

Terry: You’re invited anytime to drop by the Star Park Adventures website at www.StarParkAdventures.com. Currently, a short approximately three minute Castlebots video awaits you.

You’ll also find a Castlebots press release, book reviews, and other fun and information regarding both “Castlebots, Book One: From Earth to the Asteroid,” and also “Star Park: First Adventure.” Come grow with us as we are learning, planning and exploring ways to further expand the offerings for you, our co-adventurers.

Tyler: Thank you again, Terry, for the interview, and for the words of inspiration for our readers. Best of luck with completing the Castlebots series.