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Review: These Balmy Days by Rich Shapero
The latest book and interactive story by Rich Shapero, These Balmy Days is a blend of literary fiction, psychological drama, and surrealism, ideal for anyone who enjoys unconventional storytelling.
If you haven’t heard of him before, Shapero is the mind behind the award winning TooFar Media app. There this new story is available to read for free, where the writing is enhanced with illustrations, animations and music in its own immersive storyworld.
App Review: TooFar Media
If you’re looking for something new to read, then I have the app for you.
Author Rich Shapero has created an immersive storytelling experience within the TooFar Media app. Combining fiction with a unique blend of art, video, animation and music to bring readers into the story, there really is nothing else quite like it.
Each of the eleven stories is written by Rich, who aims to write novels that ‘dare readers with giant metaphors, magnificent obsessions and potent ideas’. The app feels like a very natural extension of this philosophy. When I opened the app for the first time, I was presented with all eleven of Shapero’s novels. Each is available to download free of charge and is accompanied by art, animation and sound that you will never find in a physical book. Here’s a closer look at three of the stories.
Welcome to the Viking Skaga - one of Viking Cruises’ noble river ships. She takes her name from an ancient Norse myth, where the Valkyrie Skaga rode into battle and escorted the dead to Valhalla, before preparing them to fight in the epic battle of Ragnarok.
A relatively new ship, the Viking Skaga only entered the fleet in 2020. At just 410 feet and carrying 168 guests and 48 crew, she was built specifically to sail down the Seine in France, although the specific itinerary will vary depending on the time of year. I was fortunate enough to join the ship for her week long Christmas on the Seine cruise, which starts and ends in Paris, calling at Vernon, Caudebec-en-Caux, Rouen, Honflour (via an excursion) and Les Andelys along the way.