Month: February 2026

SISTER WORLD: THE ARRIVAL

by debrazauthor

This was my mother’s favorite one of my books. I created a world I wish I could live in, even with all the dangers, there’s a life to each page. A person, or animal you want to get to know. ‘There are characters you’ll remember long after you close the book. Now, as the author you may expect me to say it, but as a person who fell in love with words before I could read them, I really mean this. I hope, if you read the books, you’ll agree. These are the things that make me feel the hours spent alone, dreaming of places and thinking of the people you know, are worthwhile.

Sister World: The Arrival

Debra Zannelli

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2019)

ISBN: 978-1727643992

Reviewed by Julie Grayson for Reader Views (08/2025)

5*- Great start to a new series!!

Imagine a world in an alternate universe that’s a mirror image of Earth. What if an evil leader on

that Alt Earth decides to quietly take it over? That’s the premise of Debra Zannelli’s Sister

World: The Arrival. This is Book 1 of the new Sister World trilogy, a story that takes place

across parallel planets.

Welcome to Terah, a world that basically mirrors Earth, but is ruled by an authoritarian regime

under the tyrant Frauliege. She decides to come to Earth because ruling one planet must not be enough. 

When siblings Kahill and Cara hear about the evil plot to invade Earth, they escape Terah through a 

wormhole that connects the two planets. Their goal is to find their counterparts on Earth, siblings Peter and

Becky, and their scientist father, Dr. Samuel Benjamin.

One of the coolest aspects of this story is TEV, an ingenious device that translates animal speech,

allowing humans to understand them. Suddenly, the creatures of Earth have the potential to be its

biggest allies. From bats stealing weapons to rats swarming enemy soldiers, they bring an

entirely new concept to warfare.

The characters here show great emotional complexity. Kahill is a young man broken by the

cruelty of Terah. His counterpart, Peter, has suffered great trauma. Readers will also meet

Jenny, a character who will be forced to make a brutal decision.

The animal kingdom, thanks to TEV, also plays its part with some amazing characters, including

Bentwing, leader of the bats, and a dog named Spirit. But perhaps the most profound moments

with the animals involve the eagles, who mourn their dead, allowing us to reflect upon our

connection to Earth’s animals.

Sister World: The Arrival is a story of survival, resilience, and unity. Environmental themes

occasionally play out, as evidenced by the delicate beauty of Earth contrasting with the scorched

desolation of Terah.

Some readers may want more on Terah’s backstory, or Frauliege’s motives, and the adult

characters (as compelling as they are) can sometimes get overshadowed by the perils facing the

youth. However, these gaps don’t seem to be the result of careless editing. Instead, they seem to

echo the narrative’s message that the future belongs to the young, the brave, and the

underestimated.

Open this novel and prepare to be taken in by a revolution we never saw coming. In which the

slightest of voices is set to make the most noise. Debra Zannelli’s Sister World: The Arrival is a

tale of speculative fiction offering all the thrills of a swashbuckling adventure as well as themes

of stewardship and sacrifice.

This review was followed by an award by Readers Views

POEM

by debrazauthor

I wrote this poem when I was in the fifth grade. I was listening to the days news, all the mean things people did to each other. Then I put on a movie. It was supposed to be a comedy about two old men. I don’t remember the name of the movie. All I remember is how sad they were. They talked about some of the things they did when they were kids. Some of them were funny. Mostly they were sad. They missed the people they pushed away, the chances they had to help their friends. They had money but it was only numbers in a book. Numbers don’t enter your room and give you a hug. I don’t know how it ended. It was too sad to watch it to the end.

I always turn to writing when I’m sad. I write a lot of poems, most I don’t remember and have to read them from my diary, or the computer now, but I remember this one. I’m older now, which means I know a lot of elderly people. Please I beg you, don’t call me elderly. Ma’am is bad enough. What I hear a lot of from sons and daughters is: I should have told mom I loved her more often, I should have taken dad golfing, spent more time with my parents. I heard one woman say she realizes that she talks to her mother more now that she’s passed away than she did when they were together. I hear husbands talk about the times they should have been there, how they spent so much time working to give their children a better life that they weren’t there were when they were needed. One man spoke of saving money for the day when he retired and could do all the things he wanted to when he was young. Of course he waited too long. He became bitter. Now he’s alone.

When I wrote this poem I thought it was about other people, made up characters in the movies. Now I realize it’s about us. Sorry if this post is sad, but some days are like that.

HOW QUICKLY RUN THE HOURS

How quickly run the hours

that decide our fate

from happy birth to showers

we find our faults too late

Before we really live

our light begins to fade

when we finally learn to give

Goodbye to all we bade

NEW REVIEW SISTER WORLD RETURN TO TERAH

by debrazauthor

The last book in the Sister World Series took the longest to write but I am so proud of the responses. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the book; thank you Ameila

Aurelia HullsSun, Feb 15, 9:00 PM (14 hours ago)
to me

I just got the reviews posted and thanks for writing your book.

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A New Week

by debrazauthor

Living with the aftermath of a disappointing Super Bowl. I was sorry the Patriots lost, though just getting to the Super Bowl is a big deal. What I really hoped for was a more exciting game. There’s always next year. Cudos to the Seahawks. They played a great game. I have to say that going to a friend’s house to watch the game and eat all the things I don’t usually eat is a lot of fun, whether we win or lose. Segway, writing a book and seeing it published gives this author a great feeling of accomplishment and though I’d like to be a bestselling author, I’m happy to have been able to write and publish my books. It’s not easy and lots of love and hours went into them. I love my word children.

Thought

by debrazauthor

I’ve learned that my thought for the day which turned into thought for the week may now be a thought for the month. This one is February’s, though I hope I’ll have at least one more thought.

“I will not go quietly into the night.” Those words were used in the movie Independence Day, but they are a variation of the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.  You can take this in a way personal to your life. As we age, we might think of it as fighting the inevitable , there is an end to all things. I wrote my books for love of the story, to express in fiction some of what I’ve felt and have experienced in my life. Marcus does not go gentle or quiet into the darkness Gregor gave him. That is my version of this expression. Yes, we don’t want to age, but neither should we be quiet when darkness descends upon us. Funny how that is a nice transition to the prequel to Dark Night, so I add, do not step quietly into the Darkness Descending.

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