reviews

I received your book in the mail 3 or 4 days ago. As the title of this note says "Wow!". I am not normally a reader. I probably only read one book a year, but this one of yours I could not put down.

["Seasons in the Kingdom], ... was a very well written and written against an accurate background of the times."

Yes, I did finish Seasons in the Kingdom. I enjoyed it very much and I suggest that any G.I. that served in korea and had a yobo should read it. The story made me relive some good times ...it also reminded of the last few months when I realized that all the dreams we had of marrying were not going to be. The day I left Korea [my Yobo] followed me to Kimpo airport and called me from the gate, I was about to board my flight so we talked on the phone. The last thing she said to me was "you be cool yobo". That was one of the most depressing days of my life. When I arrived home the next day I found out that my girl friend was seeing another guy that had just returned from "Nam". I took my experiences from Korea and made out somewhat well. Tim thanks for helping me to finally get rid of some of the guilt I have been carrying around for almost forty years.

I thoroughly enjoyed your novel, it brought back alot of memories of Ascom, and Korea. The factory girls waving from their dormitories, as we drove by heading to the MSR, that was a long lost memory. You captured the everyday life perfectly. ...thanks again for writing the book , I will recommend it.

My wife finished the novel and she said it was a very interesting and great story.

I am interested in how good your book does. It will tell us how many guys really remember this place in our past. I hope it does super for you. I was so young and in shock when our ship landed at Inchon. They then bused us over to Ascom

I wanted to let you know what a great book you have written. I was in Korea in the army up in the 2nd Div near the Imjin River in 66-67. Your book takes me back to those days. I had a yobo for a while and lived thru some of the things you write about. I broke up with her when they shipped me up north from my original compound and she had someone type me a very sorrowful letter describing the girls as "Trodden Flowers". I think that was a good description of their miserable lives. My little gal treated me very well and I did kinda feel for her but like many soldiers I was just young and a long way from home. I wondered what ever became of her and the many like her? This book, [Seasons in the Kingdom], actually woke me up some as really didn't know their whole dilemma. I guessed they were like slaves to a mamasan-but didn't really understand it.

WOW! I finished your novel last night. This is just an opinion from an old farm boy down in southeast Texas. I think it was great. It portrayed our time in Korea so well that I felt like I was back there.

I am to Man and the Tiger. For a slow reader I'm moving along. I really really like the story. It's like I'm there watching all this happen. Can't wait to read some more.

You certainly brought the memories of the village life. The girls, the booze,the food, the total different way of life, we all experienced over there.

I received the copy of Seasons In The Kingdom today and can't wait to start it.

You certainly brought the memories of the village life. The girls, the booze,the food, the total different way of life, we all experienced over there.
I remember the changing seasons. The drabness of winter, the beauty of spring, the steaming wetness of summer, and the cooling sense of fall. I can see the meat markets with flies all over the meat hanging in the display cases. The bikes loaded with whatever stacked as high as they could. The pigs drunk on mokali (sp) going to market. Seeing the man walking down the dike with what seemed to be a large white sack over his shoulder and when we got close enough, it turned out to be large dog slaughtered and on the way to market or home. The smells of kimchi at the pass and i.d. gate in the mornings, I can still smell it, damn near 40 years later. Yes, you brought back the memories, of a different time in our young lives. Do you ever wonder how things have changed over there?

Hi Tim: Yes I started your book and I'm enjoying it very much. Things are coming back to me as if they happened yesterday.

Seasons in the Kingdom is a touching novel. It stays with you long after the read is completed.

RECENT REVIEW ON AMAZON.COM

AbsoF...loutely, an outF...standing book, to use the vernacular military speak. The custom of putting four letter words between every syllable is a constant in the military, and one soon tunes it out, not noticing when you or others do it. The author Tim Norris, has written an astutely accurate historical narrative, including (as they say in movie reviews) adult language, adult situations, drugs, violence, brutality, racism, prostitution, sex, and in this village -- more sex. The story takes place in a real military camp ASCOM (Army Support Command), and a real Korean village, Sin-Chon, complete with American named clubs for pool, drink, and debauchery. The reader should not be fooled by the backdrop, language, or circumstance. This is a love story, the build-up is slow, and carefully constructed, designed to carefully veil the impending and often tenuous romance. Over all the story is an exploration of love, marriage, children, and life's dreams, as seen by a 20 something boy and girl. The life of a GI in Korea was far from a usual experience. Even the sex is different, as the author humorously contrasts prostitution in America, with love making Korean style.

I personally lived on the ASCOM base and the village, in 1969, a victim of the draft in a very confusing time, being only 23 and yanked from an even more confused America, into this mind numbing whirl of sensations - Korea, and the camptowns. After living one year in the military (state side), GI's get used to jumping to the whistle, making the bed, polishing the shoes, cleaning up and making ready for inspection. As the author so accurately describes, once in Korea, you get a houseboy, to do all the spit polish, bed making, and even preparing for inspections, then you find that you probably won't even use your bed as the bunks in the village are plentiful and they come complete with a companion for the night, at very little cost. Every need you could have as a 23 year old is met. Except perhaps answers to all those questions you have spinning in your head about life, love, sex, children, and what will happen when I go home. Take this journey with Tim Norris as he weaves a tale, true in every detail, explore the wonderment of a 20 year old GI and a 20 something Korean girl, with every wish come true, but in need of answers to questions they didn't know existed.

This book is not for everyone, as you will have to enjoy or get past the language and the extreme situations. However, if you were ever a 20 year old, and remember falling in love, or even lust, you'll find something very familiar in this story. Age old life questions, told in a very modern and unusual circumstance. Exciting, full of lust, love, romance, and all the baggage that tags along.